Robert Loraine

Robert Loraine
"The Flying Stage" Loraine as caricatured in Vanity Fair, 10 January 1912
Born	Robert Bilcliffe Loraine 14 January 1876 New Brighton, Liscard, Cheshire, England
Died	23 December 1935(1935-12-23) (aged 59) London, England
Occupation	actor soldier actor-manager aviator
Years active	1889–1935
Spouse(s)	1897 Julie Opp (divorced ) 1901 Winifred Lydia Strangman(3 daughters)
Awards	Military Cross Distinguished Service Order

Robert Bilcliffe Loraine MC DSO (14 January 1876 – 23 December 1935) was a successful London and Broadway stage actor, actor-manager and soldier who later enjoyed a side career as a pioneer aviator. Born in New Brighton, Liscard, Cheshire, England, his father was Henry Loraine and Robert made his first stage appearance in the English provinces in 1889. He served in the Boer War (1899–1902). He introduced the George Bernard Shaw play Man and Superman to Broadway in 1905.

Loraine was a versatile actor and was successful both in serious plays and in popular works of light entertainment. He was particularly associated with the works of George Bernard Shaw, taking over the role of John Tanner from Harley Granville Barker in the fourth run of Man and Superman at the Royal Court Theatre. He also won critical acclaim for performances in plays by William Shakespeare and August Strindberg.

In 1909 Loraine took up the new technology of aviation learning first to fly at the Bleriot school at Pau, France. He then switched to the easier to fly Farman biplane, on which he achieved great fame. In September 1910 he made what is credited as being the first aeroplane flight from England to Ireland, although he actually came down in the sea about 200 feet (60 metres) from the shore. The same month he piloted one of the two Bristol Boxkites which took part in the British Army manouevres on Salisbury Plain, during which he sent the first radio signals to be sent from an aeroplane in Britain. His diary is cited by the Oxford English Dictionary as the first written example of the word joystick to describe aircraft stick controls.