Tree, Herbert Beerbohm (1852-1917), was a leading English actor and theater manager. As an actor, he was known for his character roles, especially as Sir John Falstaff in William Shakespeare‘s Henry IV plays and as Fagin in the stage adaptation of Charles Dickens‘s novel Oliver Twist. Tree managed the Haymarket Theatre in London from 1887 to 1897 and then moved to Her Majesty’s Theatre, which he had rebuilt. There he staged productions of Shakespeare’s plays that were famous for their spectacle. Tree also staged the English-language premiere of George Bernard Shaw‘s Pygmalion in 1914, taking the leading role of Professor Henry Higgins.
Herbert Draper Beerbohm was born on Dec. 17, 1852, in London. He added the name Tree after he began pursuing an acting career. He was the half brother of the famous English author and artist Max Beerbohm. Tree made his professional stage debut in 1878. He founded an acting school in 1904 that later became the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). King Edward VII knighted him in 1909, and he became known as Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. He died on July 2, 1917.
