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Augustin Daly




He was dramatic critic for several New York papers from 1859 , and he adapted or wrote a number of plays, ''Under the Gaslight'' ( 1867 ) being his first success. In 1869 he was the manager of the Fifth Avenue Theatre, and in 1879 he built and opened Daly's Theatre in New York , and, in 1893 , Daly's Theatre in London .

At the former he gathered a company of players, headed by Ada Rehan , which made for it a high reputation, and for them he adapted plays from foreign sources, and revived Shakespearean comedies in a manner before unknown in America. He took his entire company on tour, visiting England , Germany and France , and some of the best actors on the American stage have owed their training and first successes to him. Among these were Clara Morris , Sara Jewett , John Drew, Jr. , Maurice Barrymore , Fanny Davenport , Maude Adams , Mrs. Gilbert , Tyrone Power, Sr. and many others.

Daly was a great book-lover, and his valuable library was dispersed by auction after his death, which occurred in Paris . Besides plays, original and adapted, he wrote '' Woffington : a Tribute to the Actress and the Woman'' (1888).