John Lawrence (J. L.) Toole (12 March 1830 – 30 July 1906) was an English comic actor and theatrical producer. He was famous for his roles in farce and in serio-comic melodramas in a career that spanned more than four decades. He was so famous in his day that he was the first actor to have a West End theatre named after him.
Toole was born in London, the younger son of James Toole and his wife, Elizabeth. His father was a messenger for the East I...
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John Lawrence (J. L.) Toole (12 March 1830 – 30 July 1906) was an English comic actor and theatrical producer. He was famous for his roles in farce and in serio-comic melodramas in a career that spanned more than four decades. He was so famous in his day that he was the first actor to have a West End theatre named after him.
Toole was born in London, the younger son of James Toole and his wife, Elizabeth. His father was a messenger for the East India Company and for some years an usher at the Old Bailey, who for many years in the 1840s acted as toastmaster in the City of London.
He was educated at the City of London School from 1841–45, and started work as a clerk in a wine merchant's office. In 1854, Toole married Susan Hale (née Caslake), a widow five years older than he. They had a son, Frank Lawrence, and a daughter, Florence Mabel, but both children died in their 20s.
Toole began his acting career by training as an amateur with the City Histrionic Club, beginning in 1850 and by...
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