David James (1839 – 3 October 1893 ) was an English comic actor and one of the founders of London's Vaudeville Theatre

Vaudeville Theatre

The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...

.

He was born in London to Moses Belasco, a tailor of Sephardic Jewish

Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...

 origin, and Sophia Jacobs. Several members of his family were active in the theatre – his brother was a professional harlequin

Harlequin

Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...

 and his nephew (and namesake) was the playwright and impresario David Belasco

David Belasco

David Belasco was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright.-Biography:Born in San Francisco, California, where his Sephardic Jewish parents had moved from London, England, during the Gold Rush, he began working in a San Francisco theatre doing a variety of routine jobs,...

. He made his stage debut as a child actor at the Princess's Theatre, London

Princess's Theatre, London

The Princess's Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street, London. The building opened in 1828 as the "Queen's Bazaar" and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts. It was converted into a theatre and opened in 1836 as the Princess's Theatre, named for then Princess...

, then managed by Charles Kean

Charles Kean

Charles John Kean , was born at Waterford, Ireland, the son of the actor Edmund Kean.After preparatory education at Worplesdon and at Greenford, near Harrow, he was sent to Eton College, where he remained three years...

. As a young man. he appeared in various burlesque

Burlesque

Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...

s. One of his best roles during that time was as Mercury in Francis Burnand

Francis Burnand

Sir Francis Cowley Burnand , often credited as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and dramatist....

's Ixion, which he performed in its 1863 premiere at the Royalty Theatre

Royalty Theatre

The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...

.

In 1870 he joined Henry James Montague

Henry James Montague

Henry James Montague was the stage name of Henry James Mann, , and American actor born in England.-Biography:He was born in 1844.He appeared in...

 and Thomas Thorne

Thomas Thorne

Thomas Thorne was an English actor and theatre manager. Thomas Thorne was one the founding managers of London's Vaudeville Theatre, along with David James and Henry James Montague, and performed leading roles in many of the productions there. His father was Richard Samuel Thorne, who managed the...

 as the first managers of the newly opened Vaudeville Theatre where his greatest success was as Perkyn Middlewick in Henry James Byron

Henry James Byron

Henry James Byron was a prolific English dramatist, as well as an editor, journalist, director, theatre manager, novelist and actor....

's Our Boys

Our Boys

Our Boys is a comedy in three acts written by Henry James Byron, first performed in London on 16 January 1875 at the Vaudeville Theatre. Until it was surpassed by the run of Charley's Aunt in the 1890s, it was the world's longest-running play, up to that time, with 1,362 performances until April...

which opened on 16 January 1875 and ran for over 1300 performances. He left the Vaudeville Theatre in 1881 to work at the Haymarket Theatre

Haymarket Theatre

The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...

, followed by a stint at the Lyceum Theatre. In 1886, he became a member of Charles Wyndham's company at the Criterion Theatre

Criterion Theatre

The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...

.

Unlike Thomas Thorne, his partner at the Vaudeville who died penniless and insane, David James died leaving a fortune of £41,000 (an enormous sum in those days), which went to his synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

 and other Jewish charities.

Source bibliography

• New York Times, "Fortunes of the Stage", 18 January 1914
• Sherson, Erroll, London's lost theatres of the nineteenth century, Ayer Publishing, 1925, p. 225. ISBN 0-405-08969-4

External links

• Photograph and brief biography at www.picturehistory.com