Born Today September 3: Benjamin Webster

1797-1882

British stage actor, manager and playwright Benjamin Nottingham Webster was born on this day in Bath, England. He was born into a performance family and several of his children carried on the acting tradition after him.  He made his stage debut in 1829, and thereafter specialized in comedic roles.  He would later become a theatrical manager in his own right and retired in the year 1874. Throughout his career, he also penned stage plays. To date, only one film as been made from one of these plays.  In 1916, the Vitagraph company adapted his play "One Touch of Nature" into a dramatic short starring Leah Baird entitled The Bond of Blood.  The film was adapted from his play for the screen by A. Van Buren Powell and the film's director Van Dyke Brooke, who also took the male lead.  Webster died in London at the age of 84 on the 3rd of July (some sources cite the 8th). He is buried at London's historic Brompton Cemetery.  His grandson Ben Webster would go on to star in films and even worked and died in Hollywood; he was likewise married to actress May Whitty. Their daughter, Benjamin's great-granddaughter, was the celebrated theatrical actor/director/producer Margaret Webster.  

[Source: Wikipedia]

Wikipedia