J. H. Ryley

John Handford Ryley, (c. 1841 – 28 July 1922) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, particularly in America. His second wife was D'Oyly Carte performer, actress and playwright Madeleine Lucette Ryley.

Life and career

Ryley appeared as Fernando in Cattarina, a comic opera by Robert Reece and Frederic Clay, at the Charing Cross Theatre in London in 1875, and as Captain Flint in Alfred Cellier's The Sultan of Mocha in Manchester in 1876. He was the original Zapeter in W. S. Gilbert and Clay's Princess Toto (and on tour in 1876), and Amen Squeak in Cellier's Nell Gwynne in Manchester in late 1876.

Ryley joined Richard D'Oyly Carte's Comedy-Opera Company Ltd. in 1878, appearing as John Wellington Wells in the first provincial production of The Sorcerer, and the Learned Judge in Trial by Jury on the same bill. In September 1878, the company gave the first provincial tour of H.M.S. Pinafore, with Ryley as Sir Joseph Porter. In October the company added Congenial Souls, a one-act farce written by Ryley using music by Jacques Offenbach, to the program. This appears to be the only play written by Ryley. Ryley appeared in this curtain raiser as Adolphus Fitzbrown. In 1879, Ryley was chosen to play Sir Joseph in the first authentic American production of Pinafore at New York City's Fifth Avenue Theatre, which opened on December 1, 1879. On December 31 of that year, in the same theatre, he created the role of Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance and continued with the role in the U.S. tour until June 1880.

Ryley appearing in leading roles in all of the New York productions of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company until 1883. He was Captain Felix Flapper in Billee Taylor (1881), Reginald Bunthorne in Patience (1881-82), Blood Red Bill in Edward Solomon's Claude Duval (1882), Philip of Aragon and Don Jose de Mantilla Les Manteaux Noirs (1882), Peter van Dunk in Rip Van Winkle (1882, with Selina Dolaro), and the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe and Mr. Cox in Cox and Box (1882-83). He continued to appear in major Gilbert and Sullivan productions in America after leaving the company. In 1884, he played King Gama in New York's first production of Princess Ida at the Fifth Avenue Theatre and also starred in Falka at the Casino Theatre. In 1885, he played Ko-Ko in The Mikado at the Standard Theatre in New York and then in Chicago.

In 1887, Ryley starred in Gasparone by Karl Millöcker in New York City at the Standard Theatre, together with Lillian Russell and Eugene Oudin. He also appeared with Russell in a tour that included Iolanthe (as Lord Chancellor, 1887), and was Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard in Boston, Massachusetts in February 1889. Ryley continued to appear in New York and on tour in America during the 1890s.

He eventually returned to England, appearing in London on several occasions between 1900 and 1913. Among his London roles were Kit Barniger in Mice and Men (1902 at the Lyric Theatre, leased by William Greet) and Josh Harmony in Mrs. Grundy (Scala Theatre, 1905), both plays by his second wife Madeleine Lucette (1868–1934).

Ryley made two films later in his career (see below) and died at the age of 81, survived by Lucette.

Films

Ryley appeared on screen late in his career as the Gravedigger in a 1913 silent film version of Hamlet, starring Johnston Forbes-Robertson. His only other film credit was the 1916 mystery, Who Killed Simon Baird?.

References

• J. H. Ryley at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
• J. H. Ryley at IMDb

External links

• Listing a Ryley 1902 stage role
• Includes a description of Ryley's play Congenial Souls