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George Frederick Price Darrell (1851–1921) was an Australian playwright best known for '' The Sunny South'' (1883), which was made into a film ''
Darrell began his professional career with Simonsen's Opera Company in
George Darrell
at AusLit
George Darrell
at State Library of New South Wales 1851 births 1921 deaths 19th-century Australian writers People from the Colony of Victoria Australian male dramatists and playwrights Australian male stage actors 19th-century Australian male actors 19th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Suicides by drowning in Australia {{Australia-writer-stub
The Sunny South or The Whirlwind of Fate
''The Sunny South, or the Whirlwind of Fate'' is a 1915 Australian silent film directed by Alfred Rolfe based on the popular play '' The Sunny South'' by George Darrell. It is considered a lost film.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Fil ...
''.
Darrell began his professional career with Simonsen's Opera Company in New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
; but, on migrating to Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, took to the regular dramatic profession, earning some distinction as a juvenile supporter of the once idolised Walter Montgomery. He married Mrs. Robert Heir (''née'' Fanny Cathcart
Mary Fanny Cathcart (3 August 1833 – 3 January 1880), was an Australian stage actress, active between 1853 and 1878. Between 1855 and 1865, she was regarded as the most famed female theatre star in Australia.
Cathcart was born in England on 3 ...
), the admirable tragédienne, and subsequently visited professionally America and England, where, at the Grand Theatre, Islington
The Grand Theatre, Islington – formerly the Philharmonic, Islington, later the Empire, Islington, and finally the Empire Cinema – was a theatre and later a cinema in the London suburb of Islington. Opened in 1860 as a concert hall it became a ...
, he produced his play ''The Sunny South''.
His last play, ''The Land of Gold'' was staged by Charles Holloway at the Criterion Theatre, Sydney in 1907.
In 1878 he formed the "Australian Dramatic Company", which name was subsequently used by Alfred Dampier
Alfred Dampier (28 February 1843? 1847? – 23 May 1908) was an English-born actor-manager
and playwright, active in Australia.John Rickard,Dampier, Alfred (1843–1908), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 4, Melbourne University Pre ...
, but the connection between the two, if any, has not been found.
Darrell's body was washed ashore at Dee Why
Dee Why is a coastal suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of Northern Beaches ...
on 29 January 1921. He had died by drowning, found to be suicide as evidenced by the note he left for his landlady, Mrs Barnet.
As a playwright his name has been confused with that of Charles Darrell, author of ''When London Sleeps'', ''The Power and the Glory'' and ''Defender of the Faith''.
Select writings
*''Man and Wife'' (1871) *''Matrimonial Manoeuvres'' (1872) *''Dark Deeds'' (1873) *''Friends of the Flag ; Or, The Struggle for Freedom'' (1874) *''Her Face, Her Fortune'' (1874) *''The Trump Card'' (1874) *''The Four Fetes'' (1875) *''Transported for Life'' (1876) *''Back from the Grave'' (1878) *''The Forlorn Hope ; or, A Tale of Tomorrow'' (1879) *''Solange'' (1882) *''The Naked Truth'' (1883) *'' The Sunny South'' (1883) *''The Squatter'' (1885) *''The Soggarth'' (1886) *''The New Rush'' (1886) *''Hue and Cry'' (1888) *''The Mystery of a Hansom Cab'' aka ''Midnight Melbourne'' (1888) – stage version of theFergus Hume
Ferguson Wright Hume (8 July 1859 – 12 July 1932), known as Fergus Hume, was a prolific English novelist, known for his detective fiction, thrillers and mysteries.
Early life
Hume was born in Powick, Worcestershire, England, the second ...
novel '' The Mystery of a Hansom Cab''
*''The Queen of Bohemia'' (1888)
*''The Pakeha'' (1890)
*''Mr Potter of Texas'' (1890)
*''The Lucky Lot'' (1890)
*''The Double Event'' (1893)
*''The Crimson Thread'' (1894)
*''Convict Once'' (1896)
*''The Land of Dawning'' (1896)
*''The Queen of Coolgardie'' (1897)
*''The Sorrows of Satan'' (1897)
*''The Light That Failed'' (1899)
*''The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont'' (1899)
*''The Punter'' (1902)
*''Sappho'' (1902)
*''Justice or Murder'' (1902)
*''Paris and Pleasure'' (1904)
*''The Battle and the Breeze'' (1905)
*''The Belle of the Bush'' (1916) – novel
References
External links
George Darrell
at AusLit
George Darrell
at State Library of New South Wales 1851 births 1921 deaths 19th-century Australian writers People from the Colony of Victoria Australian male dramatists and playwrights Australian male stage actors 19th-century Australian male actors 19th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Suicides by drowning in Australia {{Australia-writer-stub