Oswald Stoll
Sir Oswald Stoll | |
---|---|
Born | Oswald Gray 20 January 1866 Melbourne, Australia |
Died | 9 January 1942 Putney, England | (aged 75)
Burial place | Putney Vale Cemetery |
Occupation | Theatre manager |
Spouses | Harriet Lewis
(m. 1892; died 1902)Millicent Shaw (m. 1903) |
Sir Oswald Stoll (née Gray; 20 January 1866 – 9 January 1942) was an Australian-born British theatre manager and the co-founder of the Stoll Moss Group theatre company. He also owned
Biography
Early life
Born in Melbourne, Australia as Oswald Gray, he moved to England with his mother, Adelaide McConnell Gray after the death of his father James Oswald Gray.[2] When his mother remarried, he took his stepfather's last name, Stoll.[3]
Entertainment career
Theatre management
At a young age, Stoll left school to help his mother, Adelaide, manage first the Parthenon music hall in Liverpool, and later a regional theatre company. The company was a success, and Stoll began to buy or build city theatres. The theatre business made Stoll a wealthy man, and in 1898 he merged his business with that of competitor Edward Moss, to form Moss Empires. By 1905, almost every large town in Great Britain had an "Empire" or a "Coliseum" theatre, managed by Stoll. He continued to honour the roots of his business by installing his mother in each new box office, so she could take the first ticket sale.[4]
Royal Variety Performance
Beginning with the first event in 1912, and continuing until 1926, Stoll was instrumental in presenting the
Film production
His film company
Theatre architecture
Stoll worked with the theatre architect Frank Matcham on several theatres, including:
- Nottingham Palace (1898)
- Hackney Empire (1901)
- London Coliseum (1904)
- Bristol Hippodrome (1912)
- Chiswick Empire (1912)
Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation
Stoll was a philanthropist who donated the land in 1916 for the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation, a charity in Fulham, London for disabled soldiers returning from World War I and their families.
Combat Veteran Players
From Stoll Foundation workshops designed to help veterans suffering from post traumatic stress through performing Shakespeare stemmed the Combat Veteran Players, or CVP. Since establishment they have performed with the
Personal life
Stoll married twice. He married his first wife, Harriet Lewis, in Cardiff in 1892, and they had one daughter. Harriet died in 1902, and Stoll married Millicent Shaw the following year. Oswald and Millicent Stoll had three sons. Lady Stoll became President of the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation following her husband's death.
Stoll was knighted by
Bibliography
- The Grand Survival: A Theory of Immortality by Natural Law, London : Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1904.
- The People's Credit. London : E. Nash, 1916.
- Freedom in Finance. London : T.F. Unwin, 1918.
- "Broadsheets" on National Finance. London : W.J. Roberts, 1921.
- More "broadsheets" on the National Finance. London : W.J. Roberts, 1922.
- National Productive Credit. London : George Allen & Unwin, 1933.
For an analysis of Stoll's writings see Vincent Barnett, 'A Creditable Performance? Sir Oswald Stoll as Business Strategist and Monetary Heretic', Journal of the History of Economic Thought, September 2009.
References
- ^ ISBN 0713475595. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b "Fifty Years' Variety: Death of Sir Oswald Stoll". Liverpool Echo. 9 January 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ R. W. E. (5 April 1952). "Successful entrepreneur, Melbourne-born Sir Oswald Stoll". The Age. p. 13. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Felix Barker, The House that Stoll Built, 1957.
- ISBN 0413773019. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ISBN 0713475595. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Welcome to the SOSF (Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation)
- ^ "Sir Oswald Stoll Mansions".
- ^ "Military veterans charity to sell most of its homes to Chelsea FC for reported £80m". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ Loxton, Howard The Owle Schreame Awards for Innovation in Classical Theatre: Combat Veteran Players, "British Theatre Guide", 19 September 2014
- ^ "The Combat Veteran Players, a theatre company comprised entirely of Veterans performing Shakespeare". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ The Putney Society (2010). The Bulletin, December. p. 2.
- ^ "Sir Oswald Stoll, producer, is dead". The New York Times. London (published 10 January 1942). 9 January 1942. p. 18. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
- ^ "Sir Oswald Stoll Buried". The Daily Telegraph. 13 January 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.