Beerbohm ( – 21 March 1995) was a cat that resided at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 994 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and ...

in London. He was born in the theatre, which was then named the Globe, and was named after actor and theatre manager

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and Actor-manager, theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End theatre, West End, winning ...

. He became renowned for attacking props and wandering into the actors' dressing rooms. Beerbohm came to public attention when he wandered across the stage during a 1978 performance by Hinge and Bracket, a behaviour he repeated throughout his life. Beerbohm retired in 1991 and went to live with the theatre's master carpenter in

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Prior to 1965, it was part of Kent. It is situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west ...

. News of his death in March 1995 was carried in many national newspapers and he became the first and, thus far, only cat to receive a front-page obituary in ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

''.

Biography

Beerbohm was 20 years old when he died, meaning that he was born in 1974 or 1975. According to one writer, he was born in the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a Theater (structure), theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 at Southwark, close to the south bank of the Thames, by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was ...

(later renamed the Gielgud Theatre after actor and director

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

) in London's West End in the 1970s; however, his obituary in ''

'' states that he "arrived at the Globe during the run of '' Donkey's Years'' in 1976". Theatres historically maintained cats on the premises as a means of controlling vermin, but their role increased over time as actors came to see them as good-luck charms and a means of reducing stress. Beerbohm, a tabby cat, was named after

, an actor and theatre manager. The cat soon gained a reputation for wandering into dressing rooms and attacking feathered hats and stuffed birds used as props. He came to public attention when he began wandering across the stage in the middle of productions. Beerbohm's first appearance was during a performance of the '' Hinge and Bracket Review'' in 1978. He is also said to have enjoyed entering the dressing rooms of

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career ...

and

Peter Bowles Peter John Bowles (16 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an English screen and stage actor. He gained prominence for television dramas such as '' Callan: A Magnum for Schneider'' and '' I, Claudius''. He is best remembered for his roles in sit ...

. He became known as one of the most famous of all theatre cats and counted Paul Eddington and

Penelope Keith Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith (''née'' Hatfield; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms '' The Good Life'' and '' To the ...

amongst his biggest fans. As a result of his popularity amongst actors, he was mentioned several times on the BBC Radio programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

''. Beerbohm is said to have survived being run over by a car on the streets of Soho. He was said to have had a girlfriend at the Lyric Theatre whom he would rush off to see frequently. Beerbohm's career is said to be the longest of any modern-day theatre cat and lasted until his retirement in 1991, when he went to live with Tony Ramsey, the theatre's master carpenter, in

. Beerbohm died on 21 March 1995, aged 20,Ronald C. Martin
"Beerbohm"
''

'', 30 March 1995, p. 36. Retrieved via the

British Newspaper Archive The British Newspaper Archive website provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library's Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London ...

on 11 October 2018. and became the only cat ever to receive a front-page obituary in ''

''. In addition to Hinge and Bracket, Eddington, and Keith, actress

Beryl Reid Beryl Elizabeth Reid (17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996) was a British actress. She won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for '' The Killing of Sister George'', the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for '' Born in th ...

also contributed anecdotes to his obituary. His death was covered by most national newspapers of the time, including ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''. His portrait hangs in the foyer of the Gielgud Theatre and he has been the subject of a painting by Frances Broomfield.

References

{{Reflist 1995 animal deaths Cats in art Individual cats in England

Biography

See also

References