Augustin Daly

Augustin Daly (born July 20, 1838, Plymouth, North Carolina, U.S.—died June 7, 1899, Paris, France) was an American playwright and theatrical manager whose companies were major features of the New York and London stage.

Although Daly’s childhood was spent in amateur performances of the Romantic blank-verse drama of the period, it was as a writer of more realistic melodramas that he enjoyed his greatest influence. Beginning in 1859, he was dramatic critic for several New York newspapers. Leah the Forsaken, adapted from a German play in 1862, was Daly’s first success as a playwright. His first important original play, Under the Gaslight (1867), was popular for years. In 1869 he formed his own company, and he later developed such outstanding actresses as Fanny Davenport and Maude Adams. Daly’s best play, Horizon (1871), drew heavily upon the western-type characters of Bret Harte and gave important impetus to the development of a drama based on American themes and characters rather than European models. Divorce (1871), another of his better plays, ran for 200 performances. After opening Daly’s Theatre in New York City in 1879, with a company headed by John Drew and Ada Rehan, he confined himself to adaptations and management and in 1893 opened Daly’s Theatre in London.