John O'Keeffe (Irish writer)
| John O'Keeffe | |
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Portrait of John O'Keefe by either Thomas or William Lawranson, 1782
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| Born | 24 June 1747 |
| Died | 4 February 1833 (aged 85) |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Heaphy |
John O'Keeffe (24 June 1747 – 4 February 1833) was an Irish actor and dramatist. He wrote a number of farces, amusing dramatic pieces and librettos for pasticcio operas, many of which had great success. Among these are Tony Lumpkin in Town (1778), Love in a Camp (1786), and Omai (1785), an account of the voyages of the Tahitian explorer Omai, and Wild Oats (1791).
O'Keeffe was born in Dublin in 1747 to Roman Catholic parents and was educated by the Jesuits. His father was from King's County and his mother (née O'Connor) from County Wexford. After showing a talent for drawing he studied art at an Academy in Dublin, but grew increasingly more interested in the theatre. After a two-year trip to London, where he became an admirer of David Garrick, he settled on a career as an actor and playwright. O'Keeffe wrote his first play The She Gallant when he was twenty, and it was performed in Dublin at the Smock Alley Theatre. In Cork, in late September 1774, O'Keeffe was married to Mary Heaphy, daughter of Tottenham Heaphy, the manager of the Theatre Royal there. The marriage ended badly and Mary was denied access to their two children. John Tottenham O'Keeffe and Adelaide O'Keeffe.
In 1777, O'Keeffe moved to London. The following year he wrote Tony Lumpkin in Town, a sequel to Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, and sent it to the manager of the Haymarket Theatre. The play was successfully produced, and O'Keeffe regularly wrote for the Haymarket thereafter. In 1782 O'Keeffe had his two children sent abroad to France to deny access to them by their mother. His son did well but his daughter suffered in convent schools.
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