Clarance Holt

Background

He was born on 9 January 1826 in Marylebone, London the youngest son of Thomas Holt and Elizabeth Giddens. His father was a successful military tailor with an establishment (Thomas Holt & Son) in Piccadilly.

Career

Early Life and He was variously described in his younger days as actor, acrobat and comedian and eventually adopted the stage name of Clarance. Holt made his stage debut in 1842 as Timothy in William Thomas Moncrieff"s farce All at Coventry at the Victoria Theatre, London. From Geelong he went to Hobart Town and Launceston, Tasmania and in September 1855 opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Sydney.

Before leaving Australia in April 1857 he had played in most of the goldfields centres of Victoria and performed on 330 nights.

In 1858 he returned to Melbourne with his family on board the Josephine. A successful tragedian, Holt played Othello to Gustavus Brooke"s Iago.

In 1862 as joint lessee of the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, he engaged such players as Brooke, Anna Bishop, Joseph Jefferson and others When the lease ran out he went to Dunedin and "became the pioneer of the English drama in New Zealand" by establishing the theatre there.

In addition to managing these theatres he continued to perform and tour the provinces.

He also created a successful one man touring show – A Night with Shakespeare and Dickens and in 1870 wrote, produced and starred in an adaptation of Les Miserables– The Barricade. He retired from the stage in about 1893.

Connections

Partner:

Charles Wilmot