J. B. Fagan
James Bernard Fagan (18 May 1873 – 17 February 1933) was an Irish-born actor, theatre manager, producer and playwright active in England. After turning from the law to the stage, Fagan began his acting career, including four years from 1895 to 1899 with
He was the first manager of the Oxford Playhouse for several years in the 1920s. As a producer, he popularised Anton Chekhov and Seán O'Casey in Britain. In 1929, he was a director of the Festival Theatre, Cambridge. Several of his plays were adapted for film, and he moved to Hollywood in his last years.
Early life and career
Fagan was born in Belfast, the eldest of the five children (three boys and two girls). His father, Sir James Fagan, was a surgeon at the Belfast Royal Hospital and an inspector of Irish reformatories,[1] and his mother was Mary Catherine Fagan, née Hughes. He attended Clongowes Wood College near Clane, County Kildare and then moved to England.[2] Initially interested in a career in the church, Fagan began studying law at Trinity College, Oxford in 1892 but left in 1893 without a degree.[3] He worked for a time in the Indian Civil Service but abandoned this career for the stage.[4]
Fagan began his career as an actor with the company of
He took over the
Oxford Playhouse and later years
Fagan was persuaded by Jane Ellis, the actress who with Alfred Ballard founded the
His first production at the Oxford Playhouse was a restaging of Heartbreak House; Shaw was in the audience. Flora Robson, John Gielgud, Raymond Massey, Margaret Rutherford, Robert Donat and Tyrone Guthrie were in his company at the theatre.[14] He produced The Cherry Orchard, at other theatres, to favourable reviews, popularising Anton Chekhov in Britain.[2] From 16 November 1925, with Dennis Eadie, he presented Juno and the Paycock by Seán O'Casey at the Royalty Theatre.[15] He staged O'Casey's The Plough followed the next year.[2]
At the Oxford theatre, Fagan produced Full Moon, the first play by
Beginning in the 1920s, several of Fagan's plays were adapted for the cinema. Fagan moved to Hollywood in 1929 for the filming by Paramount of his play The Wheel as The Wheel of Life. Other film work included his co-adaptation of the screenplay for the 1932 film Smilin' Through, and he co-wrote Paramount's Forgotten Commandments the same year. His play Bella donna was filmed four times, including posthumously in 1946 (as Temptation), and a 1936 film, The Improper Duchess was based on his 1931 play of the same name.[2]
Personal
Fagan married first actress Elizabeth Kirby in 1897 and later another actress, who acted under the stage name of Mary Grey. She was previously Mrs. Ada Bevan Ritchie,[17] née Ada Bryant, a sister of actor Charles Bryant. The couple's daughter, Gemma Fagan, was also an actress, who married the cricketer Oliver Battcock.[18] Fagan's hobbies included golf and tennis.[2]
He died in Hollywood, California, at the age of 59 of a heart attack following influenza.[4]
Selected plays
- The Prayer of the Sword (1904)
- The Earth (1910)
- Bella Donna (1912)
- Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (1913)
- The Wheel (1922)
- And So to Bed (1926)
- The Greater Love (1927)
- The Improper Duchess (1931)
- Doctor O'Toole (1938)
References
- ^ "James Bernard Fagan". Ricorso
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sharp, Robert. "Fagan, James Bernard". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 26 October 2010 (subscription required)
- ^ a b c "Playhouse Players" Archived 3 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine. OxfordPlayhouse.com, accessed 22 October 2010
- ^ a b c d "Mr J. B. Fagan dead", The West Australian, 20 February 1933, p.9
- ^ Watson, George. The New Cambridge bibliography of English literature Volume 5, p. 842
- ^ Adams, W. B. The Times, 25 February 1933, p. 14b
- ^ Innes, C. D. A sourcebook on naturalist theatre p. 236
- ^ "London Life – a commentary" The West Australian 31 January 1923 p.10
- ^ Chapman, p. 32
- ^ Chapman, p. 34
- ^ "Author's irreparable loss. Life-time's collection burned". The West Australian, 11 June 1924, p. 11
- ^ "London Life – a commentary" The West Australian 1 June 1923 p.7
- ^ Chapman, p. 35
- ^ Oxford Playhouse website
- ^ "Riotous conduct at Abbey Theatre" Sydney Morning Herald 13 February 1926 p.15
- ^ Cody, Gabrielle H. The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, vol 2, p. 1471
- ^ "Dramatist and Actress – J. B. Fagan as co-respondent" The Advertiser (Adelaide SA) 26 July 1912 p.15
- ^ International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38. New York: The Quigley Publishing Company. 1938. p. 396.
Sources
- Chapman, Don. Oxford Playhouse: high and low drama in a university city, University of Hertfordshire Press (2009) ISBN 978-1-902806-86-0
- Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. pp. – via Wikisource. . . Dublin:
External links
- Works by J. B. Fagan at Project Gutenberg
- Works by James B. Fagan at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by or about J. B. Fagan at Internet Archive
- J. B. Fagan at IMDb
- J. B. Fagan at the Internet Broadway Database
- Plays by J.B. Fagan at Great War Theatre