George Vandenhoff (18 February 1820 - 15 June 1885) was an English actor and elocutionist who performed in Britain and the United States.
George Vandenhoff | |
|---|---|
 Vandenhoff in 1873 | |
| Born | 18 February 1820 England |
| Died | 15 June 1885 (aged 65) England |
Life
editVandenhoff was born in 1820 in England, a son of Elizabeth (born Pike) and the notable English actor John Vandenhoff. His elder sister was the actor Charlotte Vandenhoff. He debuted in Rule a Wife and Have a Wife at the Covent Garden Theatre on 14 October 1839. He came to the United States in 1842, debuting in a performance as Hamlet,[1] and appeared in productions in New York. In 1846, he gave the "Opening Address" at the new Howard Athenaeum in Boston.
Vandenhoff married American actress Mary E. Makeah in Boston in 1855. After leaving acting, he began practicing as a lawyer (in which profession he had previously been trained) by 1858.[2]
He also authored books about performing and reading in public. Well known for his skills in public speaking, in 1869, Vandenhoff was lured by author Charles Reade to read a large portion of his 1866 novel Griffith Gaunt to the jury in a defamation trial.[3][4][5]
Selected works
edit- The Clay Code, or Text-Book of Eloquence (1844)
- A Plain System of Elocution (1845)
- Dramatic Reminiscences, or Actors and Actresses in England and America (1860)
- Leaves from an Actor's Note-Book (1860)
- The Clerical Assistant, or Elocutionary Guide (1862)
- A Lady's Reader, with Rules for Reading Aloud (1862)
- The art of elocution (1862)
- The art of reading aloud (1878)
References
edit- ^ Knight, Joseph (2004). "Vandenhoff, John Michael (1790–1861), actor". In Banerji, Nilanjana (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28065. ISBN 9780198614128. Retrieved 6 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ George Vandenhoff, Strangers to us All: Lawyers and Poetry, Retrieved 1 March 2017
- ^ Hudson, Frederic. Journalism in the United States, from 1690-1872 pp. 748-49 (1873)
- ^ Etc., The Overland Monthly, p. 387 (April 1869) (humorous commentary on Vandenhoff's role at the trial)
- ^ (27 February 1869). "Griffith Gaunt" in court; Charles Reade's action for libel against the editors of the Round Table - the trial commenced, The New York Times
- ^ George Vandenhoff, American National Biography Online, Retrieved 1 March 2017 (appears to have incorrect death date)
- ^ (1 September 1886). Death of George Vandenhoff, Portland Daily Press
- ^ Schooley, Bill Jaye. George Vandenhoff, Nineteenth Century Elocutionist In America, Louisiana State University, Ph.D. Dissertation (1984)
- ^ (14 August 1886). The Vandenhoffs, The New York Mirror, p. 11 (obituary)