Arthur Wing Pinero was born in London on 24 May 1855, the son of solicitor John Daniel Pinero and his second wife, Lucy Daines. After attending a charity school in Clerkenwell, Pinero was employed as a solicitor’s clerk, but at the age of nineteen he began to work as a professional actor, securing a place in R.H. Wyndham’s company at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, in 1874. By 1876, Pinero had made the transition from regional to London theatre and was a member of Henry Irving’s Lyceum company, and less than a year later his one act play £200 a Year was staged at the Globe Theatre, marking the beginning of his career as a dramatic author. He continued to work as an actor for another eight years, however, and …
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