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

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 09 December 2024.]

14718 Leonard Merrick 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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