Edmund Falconer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Edmund Falconer
Old Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Born	Edmund O'Rourke 1814 Dublin, Ireland
Died	1879 Russell Square, London
Occupation	Actor, poet, theatre manager, songwriter, playwright
Years active	1824–1879
Spouse(s)	Married three times

Edmund Falconer (born around 1814 – died September 29, 1879) was an amazing Irish artist. His real name was Edmund O'Rourke. He was a poet, actor, theatre manager, songwriter, and playwright. People knew him for his sharp mind and fantastic acting skills.

Early Life and First Steps

Edmund O'Rourke was born in Dublin, Ireland, around 1814. He started acting when he was just a child. But he didn't become famous until he was over 40 years old. For the first part of his career, he worked in repertory theatre. This meant he performed in many different plays in Ireland and other parts of England. While working as an actor, he also published his first book of poems in 1852. It was called Man's Mission.

Becoming a Star

Edmund O'Rourke finally found success when he was 41. This happened in 1854 at the Adelphi Theatre in Liverpool. On the same night, he played two very different roles. One was in the serious play Hamlet. The other was in the funny play Three Fingered Jack. He got such great reviews that he never had to travel around performing in smaller towns again.

Two years later, he changed his stage name to Edmund Falconer. He also wrote his first successful play, The Cagot or Heart for Heart. This play marked the start of his new career as a London dramatist. Heart for Heart was first performed at the Lyceum Theatre, London in December 1856. A newspaper called The Athenaeum said the play had "noble sentiment." Soon after, he wrote another play called A Husband for an Hour.

Writing and Running Theatres

In 1858, Falconer translated a play by Victor Hugo called Ruy Blas. It was performed at the Princess Theatre. That same year, he started working with a famous composer named Michael William Balfe. Falconer wrote the words, called a libretto, for Balfe's popular opera The Rose of Castille. He later wrote librettos for other successful shows by Balfe. These included Satanella and the very famous song Killarney. This song was loved in concert halls for many years.

Falconer had a lot of energy. He also decided to try managing theatres. In August 1858, he and F. B. Chatterton took over the Lyceum Theatre, London. Falconer often used his position to put on his own plays. His first play there was Extremes, a comedy. A reporter for The Times newspaper liked it. They said the characters were "sharply defined." More of Falconer's plays, like Francesca, were performed there too.

After a couple of years, Falconer stopped managing the Lyceum. But he came back to it in 1861. He then put on more of his own plays. These included Woman, Love Against The World and Peep o' Day. Peep o' Day is probably what he is best remembered for. It was based on some novels and had an exciting scene where the main character is saved from being buried alive. This play ran for a long time. He also wrote two comedies for the Haymarket Theatre.

Acting Triumphs

In 1860, Falconer became famous in London for his acting, not just his writing. He played the bad guy, Danny Mann, in Boucicault's play The Colleen Bawn. This exciting play, called a melodrama, was performed at the Adelphi Theatre. It was a huge hit and ran for 231 nights!

Falconer made a lot of money, about £13,000, while managing the Lyceum. In 1862, he used this money to buy a share of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. He worked with Frederick Balsir Chatterton again. Between 1863 and 1865, he wrote and produced several plays. These included Bonnie Dundee and Love's Ordeal. He also acted in some of his plays, like Galway-go-bragh.

However, Falconer tried to make Shakespeare plays popular at the theatre, but it didn't work out. He put on plays like Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. Even with good actors, not many people came to watch. By 1866, he had lost his money. He faced serious financial problems and had to stop managing the theatre. He then tried to make money with a new play called Oonagh. It was performed in November 1866. The opening night was a disaster! It was so long that most of the audience left before it finished. The play was a big failure. Because he was short on money, Falconer decided to go to America. His play Peep o' Day had made him famous there.

Later Years and Legacy

Falconer spent three successful years in America. He acted on Broadway and wrote three new plays. One of his biggest fans was Mark Twain, the famous author of Tom Sawyer. Falconer's plays were so popular in the US that they were printed many times. He also married an American woman, who was his third wife.

In 1871, Falconer returned to London. Another of his plays, A Wife Well Won, had been a success there while he was away. Later that year, his play Eileen Oge was also a hit. It even featured his famous song Killarney. Soon after, Falconer stopped acting and writing. He passed away at his home in London on September 29, 1879. He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.

A newspaper reported that even though Falconer had earned a lot of money from Peep O' Day, he "died penniless." His friends from a club called the Savage Club collected money to pay for his funeral and help his wife.

Falconer's Works

• 1852: Man’s Mission: A Pilgrimage to Glory’s Goal (poem)
• 1856: The Cagot or Heart for Heart (play)
• 1857: The Rose of Castille (libretto)
• 1857: Killarney (song)
• 1862: Peep o'Day - also known as Savoureen Deelish (play)
• 1866: Galway Go Bragh (play, based on a novel)
• 1871: Eileen Oge - or Dark the Hour Before Dawn (melodrama)

Falconer's plays performed in America included:

• Heartsease (1870)
• Innisfallen (1870)
• The Firefly (1869) - Mark Twain was a big fan of this one!
• Charles O'Malley (1869) - He also acted in this play.

Links to James Joyce

The opera The Rose of Castille, which Falconer wrote the words for, was very popular for many years. It was even a favorite of Leopold Bloom, a character in James Joyce's famous novel Ulysses (written in 1922). In the book, Bloom often thinks about this opera.