John Martin-Harvey

Sir John Martin-Harvey (22 June 1863 – 14 May 1944), known before his knighthood in 1921 as John Martin Harvey, was an English stage actor-manager.

Biography Early life Born in Bath Street, Wivenhoe, Essex, he was the son of John Harvey, a yacht-designer and shipbuilder, and Margaret Diana Mary (née Goyder). His father expected him to follow his own profession, but Martin Harvey had his sights set on the stage. One of his father's clients was the dramatist W.S. Gilbert, and it was through Gilbert that young Martin Harvey met his first teacher, John Ryder.

"The Only Way" Martin Harvey and his wife Angelita worked on an adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, later involving playwright Freeman Wills and Irish clergyman Canon Frederick Langbridge. There was already a play called Sidney Carton, or a Tale of Two Cities and it was Angelita who came up with the title The Only Way.

First World War During the First World War, Martin Harvey and his wife toured the country giving military recruitment lectures and raising money for the Red Cross and other charities, most notably the Nation's Fund for Nurses. The couple raised enough money to buy a building for the College of Nursing in 1920, which became a rest home for nurses.

Personal life

In 1889 he married Angelita Helena Maria de Silva Ferro, daughter of a Chilean consul and a fellow actor in Irving's company who used the stage name Miss N. de Silva. They had two children, Muriel Martin-Harvey and Michael Martin-Harvey, both successful actors. John Martin Harvey died at his home in East Sheen, Richmond, Surrey, aged 80.

Selected filmography A Cigarette-Maker's Romance (1913) The Broken Melody (1916) The Breed of the Treshams (1920) The Only Way (1927) The Burgomaster of Stilemonde (1929) The Lyons Mail (1931)