Francis Burnand
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Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (November 29, 1836 – April 21, 1917), often credited as F. C. Burnand, was an editor of Punch, taking over from Tom Taylor in 1880, until 1906, when he was succeeded by Sir Owen Seaman. He was also a prolific humorist and writer, creating almost 200 burlesques, farces, pantomimes and other works. He was knighted in 1902.
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[edit] Life and career
Burnand studied at Eton and Cambridge (where he founded the Amateur Dramatic Club) and studied first to become a priest and then an attorney, practicing a little. But he found that his talents lay in writing farce, pantomime, burlesque and extravaganza for the London stage. He was a contributor to the humor journals Fun, and then Punch.
In 1860, he married Cecilia Victoria Ranoe, an actress. She died in 1870, and he married Rosina Jones, a widow, in 1874.
[edit] Stage works
Burnand's first production on the public stage was a burlesque entitled, Dido, produced at the St. James's Theatre on February 11, 1860. This was followed by The Iles of St. Tropez (1860); Fair Rosamond (1862); and The Deal Boatman (1863). His most memorable early success was Ixion, or the Man at the Wheel (1863), a musical spoof that found audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Other notable early works included Windsor Castle (1865) and the very successful Black Eyed Susan (a burlesque, in 1866). Burnand also translated Jacques Offenbach's early hits for the London stage.
In 1866, he wrote the comic opera Cox and Box, collaborating with Arthur Sullivan. The opera was based on the farce Box and Cox, written by John Maddison Morton. That work was successful enough to encourage its authors to write a two-act opera, The Contrabandista (1867), revised and expanded as The Chieftain (1894), which did not achieve great popularity in either version.
Burnand also wrote several works with Edward Solomon. Dozens of works followed including, notalby, burlesques, such as The Colonel (1881, which made so much money for actor-manager Edgar Bruce that he was able to build the Prince of Wales Theatre), and pantomimes until 1909. The Colonel, a work intended to cash in on the craze for aesthetic art, was based on The Serious Family, a play by Morris Barnett.
[edit] Books
His well-known book, Happy Thoughts was originally published in Punch in 1863–64 and frequently reprinted. This was followed by My Time and What I’ve Done with It (1874); The Incompleat Angler (1887); Very Much Abroad (1890); Rather at Sea (1890); Quite at Home (1890); and The Real Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1893). He also wrote Personal Reminiscences of the A.D.C., Cambridge, in 1880, and Records and Reminiscences, in 1904.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Parker, John, comp. & ed. (1914). Who’s Who in the Theatre. London: Pitman, 84.
- "F. C. Burnand". Who Was Who in the Theatre: 1912–1976: 335. (1978). Detroit: Gale.
