Leonard Merrick

William Baker (Northern Illinois University)

Ed. by Chris Baldick, Goldsmiths College, University of London
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

Born 21 Feb 1864
Died 7 Aug 1939
Activity 1888-1930

Places

Born in England
Active in England; France

Cultural Identities

Jewish

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Story-writer

Other

Playwright / Dramatist
Theatre actor

Resources

Merrick's Works

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Leonard Merrick (1864-1939) was an English novelist and short-story writer whose work was admired in his time by many of his fellow authors, but never achieved the recognition they felt it deserved. After a brief theatrical career as an actor and actor-manager in the 1880s, he published a dozen novels between 1888 and 1911, but in later years concentrated on writing short stories. Merrick’s fiction often explores, in George Orwell’s words, the “shabby-genteel” world of struggling actors and writers. “If there is one thing above all others for which he deserves to be remembered”, wrote Orwell in 1945, “it is his extraordinarily convincing and glamourless picture of stage life” (Orwell: 74). Among Merrick’s best-appreciated novels are

The Actor-Manager

(1898),

Conrad in

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1372 words

Citation: Baker, William. "Leonard Merrick". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 May 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14718, accessed 24 April 2024.]

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