Lionel Brough

Lionel Brough (10 March 1836 – 9 November 1909) was a British actor and comedian. After beginning a journalistic career and performing as an amateur, he became a professional actor, performing mostly in Liverpool during the mid-1860s. He established his career in London as a member of the company at the new Queen's Theatre, Long Acre in 1867, and he soon became known for his roles in Shakespeare, contemporary comedies, and classics, especially as Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer.

In the 1870s and 1880s, Brough was one of the leading comic actors in London. Although untrained musically, he also appeared in several successful operettas in the 1880s and 1890s. He continued to contribute popular performances into the 20th century and ended his career in comedy roles with Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company.

Brough was born in Pontypool, Wales, the son of Barnabas Brough, a brewer, publican, wine merchant and later dramatist, and his wife Frances Whiteside, a poet and novelist. His brothers, William and Robert (father of actress Fanny Brough) were also playwrights, and his brother John Cargill Brough was a science writer. His father was briefly kidnapped by the Chartists in 1839 and was a prosecution witness at the trial of the Chartist leader John Frost, which resulted in Frost's deportation to Australia. The family was ostracised and ruined financially as a result, and they moved to Manchester in 1843. Brough's first job was as an office boy at The Illustrated London News. He was then employed as assistant publisher by The Daily Telegraph and for several years at The Morning Star. At the former, he introduced to England the American system of selling the newspaper in the streets using newsboys.

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