Rutland Barrington(1853-1922)
- Actor
Rutland Barrington was one of the most important and popular members of
the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the company set up by impressario
Richard D'Oyly Carte to perform the operatic works of W S Gilbert and A
S Sullivan. Joining in 1877, Barrington created the following roles: Dr
Daly in "The Sorcerer", Corcoran in "HMS Pinafore", Sergeant in "The
Pirates of Penzance", Grosvenor in "Patience", Mountararat in
"Iolanthe", Hildebrand in "Princess Ida", Pooh-Bah in "The Mikado", and
Sir Despard in "Ruddigore". Barrington then briefly left the company to
try his hand at theatre management, before returning to create the
roles of Giuseppe in "The Gondoliers", King Paramount in "Utopia,
Ltd.", and Ludwig in "The Grand Duke". He left the Carte in 1896 and
enjoyed a successful career appearing in many musicals and operettas in
London's West End. He returned to the Carte for a final time in 1908,
staying for a year, and playing many of his old roles plus The Judge or
the Counsel in "Trial by Jury", Wilfred Shadbolt in "The Yeomen of the
Guard", and Don Alhambra in "The Gondoliers". During this final fling
with the Carte, Barrington published his first autobiography "Rutland
Barrington- By Himself", following it up in 1911 with "More Rutland
Barrington". During his later life, Barrington found himself with
financial problems, and was eventually buried in an unmarked grave in
1922. The location of the grave has now been discovered and fans of the
G&S Operas have now erected a gravestone to the memory of one of the
Victorian eras most famous and popular performers.
