William Rignold was an English actor. Rignold began acting as a teenager, together with his brother George

George Rignold

George Richard Rignold, born George Richard Rignall, was an English-born actor, active in Australia.-Early life:...

.

Biography

William Rignold was the first son of the actor William Ross Rignold (1813–1883) and his wife, the actress Patricia Blaxland (1800–1888). A second son, George

George Rignold

George Richard Rignold, born George Richard Rignall, was an English-born actor, active in Australia.-Early life:...

, also entered the theatrical profession. Both the brothers were brought up as musicians, and William was a capable violinist, but they both forsook music for the stage in their late teens.

In 1860 Rignold had a leading role in The Dead Heart at the Theatre Royal, Bristol, and the following year he was judged "very amusing as a foppish man of the world" in The Romance of a Poor Young Man at the same theatre. His brother George was also a member of the company at the Theatre Royal. In the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...

with which the new Theatre Royal, Bath

Theatre Royal, Bath

The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, is over 200 years old. It is one of the more important theatres in the United Kingdom outside London, with capacity for an audience of around 900....

, opened on 4 March 1863 William played Lysander, and George played Theseus, in a cast that included Charles Coghlan

Charles Francis Coghlan

Charles Francis Coghlan , Canadian actor, was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and was educated in law.He made his first London appearance in 1860, and became the leading actor at the Prince of Wales's Theatre. He starred in Sweethearts by W. S. Gilbert...

, Henrietta Hodson

Henrietta Hodson

Henrietta Hodson was an English actress and theatre manager best known for her portrayal of comedy roles in the Victorian era. She had a long affair with the journalist-turned-politician Henry Labouchère, later marrying him....

, Ellen Terry

Ellen Terry

Dame Ellen Terry, GBE was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Among the members of her famous family is her great nephew, John Gielgud....

, William Robertson and his daughter Madge

Madge Kendal

Dame Madge Kendal GBE , born as Margaret Shafto Robertson, was an English actress of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, best known for her roles in Shakespeare and English comedies. Together with her husband, W. H...

.

Rignold made his London debut in 1869 in Marie Antoinette at the Princess's Theatre, receiving a good review from the leading theatrical paper, The Era

The Era (newspaper)

The Era was a British weekly paper, published from 1838 to 1939. Originally a general newspaper, it became noted for its sports coverage, and later for its theatrical content.-History:...

. He followed this with successful appearances in Dion Boucicault

Dion Boucicault

Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot , commonly known as Dion Boucicault, was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the...

's Presumptive Evidence, which played in a double bill with Handel

HANDEL

HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....

's opera Acis and Galatea starring Blanche Cole

Blanche Cole

Blanche Cole was an English soprano. Showing promise as a child, Cole went on to have a successful operatic career, during which she sang 21 roles in English versions of operas in London and the British provinces. She died at the age of 37.-Early years:Cole was born in Portsmouth, England, to a...

. Rignold played Sir George Wilson in Robert Buchanan

Robert Buchanan

Robert Buchanan is the name of:* Bob Buchanan , American baseball player* Robert Williams Buchanan , Scottish writer* Robert Buchanan , Scottish footballer...

's Joseph's Sweetheart in 1888. In 1890, he appeared at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney

Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney

Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Australia, refers to three theatres of the same name:One was a theatre which opened on 10 September 1887 and closed on 10 June 1933.It was located on the corner of Pitt and Market Street, Sydney, where Centrepoint stands today....

, in The Merry Wives of Windsor

The Merry Wives of Windsor

The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...

. The lessee and manager was his brother George, who played Ford to William's Falstaff.

At the end of the century Rignold's eyesight failed, leaving him unable to perform. A benefit fund was set up, and a fund-raising show was given at the Lyric Theatre

Lyric Theatre (London)

The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...

. Richard Temple, Vernon Cave and Powis Pinder performed Cox and Box

Cox and Box

Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers, is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic opera. The story concerns a landlord who lets a room to two...

, George Rignold gave a speech from Henry V

Henry V (play)

Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...

, Sheridan

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...

's The Critic

The Critic (play)

The Critic: or, a Tragedy Rehearsed is a satire by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first staged at Drury Lane Theatre in 1779. It is a burlesque on stage acting and play production conventions, and Sheridan considered the first act to be his finest piece of writing...

was given by a cast led by H. B. Irving and Constance Collier

Constance Collier

Constance Collier was an English film actress and acting coach.-Life and career:Born Laura Constance Hardie, in Windsor, Berkshire, Collier made her stage debut at the age of 3, when she played Fairy Peasblossom in A Midsummer's Night Dream...

, and Trial by Jury

Trial by Jury

Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...

was played by Rutland Barrington

Rutland Barrington

Rutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades...

, Hayden Coffin, George Grossmith, Jr.

George Grossmith, Jr.

George Grossmith, Jr. was a British actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies...

, Courtice Pounds

Courtice Pounds

Charles Courtice Pounds , better known by the stage name Courtice Pounds, was an English singer and actor known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his later roles in Shakespeare plays and Edwardian musical comedies.As a young member...

, Evie Greene

Evie Greene

Edith Elizabeth Greene was a much-photographed English actress and singer who played in Edwardian musical comedies in London and on Broadway. She is most notable for starring as Dolores, the central character in the international hit musical Florodora...

 and others. Lionel Monckton

Lionel Monckton

Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English writer and composer of musical theatre. He was Britain's most popular musical theatre composer of the early years of the 20th century.-Early life:...

appeared as the Associate.