 Dame Genevieve Ward DBE
1837 - 1922
American born soprano and actress, Lucy Genevieve Teresa Ward, Bram Stoker’s first known romantic interest, would remain his dear friend, even long after his marriage to Florence Balcombe.
<a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/08/19/107068636.pdf">Read her NY Times Obituary </a> |  Sir Henry Irving, “The Guv’nor”
1838 - 1905
Great Shakespearean actor, born John Henry Bodribb, shown here in a painting by John Everett Millais, member of London’s Garrick Club, as were Irving and Stoker.
<a href="https://snajbrt.wixsite.com/mysite/max">A fascinating perspective from actor Max Montesole </a> |  Dame Ellen Terry
1847 - 1928
Acclaimed British actress, shown here at age 16.
Born into a theatre family, which included
great-nephew Sir John Gielgud, she was on the
stage at age eight, and joined the Lyceum Troupe in 1878, where she stayed for twenty-four years. |
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 Pamela Coleman Smith, a.k.a. “Pixie”
1878 - 1951
Artist, illustrator, writer
<a href="http://pcs2051.tripod.com/theater.htm">Phil Norfleet’s
Account of Her Lyceum Friendships</a> |  Mark Twain
(Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
1835 - 1910
American author; like his friend Bram Stoker, enjoyed a special sense of humor. |  1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, Angela Georgina
1814 - 1906
A leading philanthropist, supporting everything from bee-keeping and drinking fountains for dogs, to countless projects to benefit the poor, Angela was close friends with Bram. Surviving letters hint at a discreet, romantic link to Bram’s older brother, Thornley. |
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 Alfred, Lord Tennyson
1809 - 1892
British Poet Laureate, whom Bram first met in 1876, and held in very high esteem. Bram & Florence Stoker visited with Tennyson at his Farrington House on the Isle of Wight, not long before Tennyson’s death. |  Buffalo Bill Cody
1846 - 1917
One of the most colorful figures of the American West, Cody fought in the American Civil War and Plains War, and earned his nickname by killing prodigious numbers of buffalo. Cody made his fortune with his Wild West Show, touring the United States and Europe. He formed friendships with Bram Stoker and Henry Irving, who squired him around London. Cody was surely the basis for Texan Quincey Morris in Dracula. |  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1859 - 1930
(Photo: Robert Barr, A. Conan Doyle , Robert McClure, Miss Doyle, Mrs. Conan Doyle in 1904)
Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey
Scottish physician, prolific writer, and creator of detective Sherlock Holmes. A dedicated Spiritualist, Conan Doyle participated in seances and believed in faeries.
<a href="http://www.sherlockholmesonline.org/">Sir Arthur Conan Doyle </a>
<a href="http://www.sherlockholmes.se/2012/04/">Bram Stoker Visits Conan Doyle at Undershaw</a> |
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 Sir William Schwenck Gilbert
1836 - 1911
English poet, dramatist, lyricist, illustrator & theater reviewer, a member of London’s Garrick & Beefsteak Clubs |  Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan
1842 - 1900
English musician and composer, best known for his work with W.S. Gilbert, he also wrote ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ and enjoyed horse-racing. |  Mary Cora Urquhart Brown-Potter
1859 - 1936
Red-haired American, society star who took to the stage in England and Ireland despite the social stigma. Divorced her husband and joined H. Beerbohm Tree’s theatre company. Oscar Wilde offered her the part of Salome, which she declined. |
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 Baroness de Bazus
1836 - 1914
Author and publisher, born Miriam Florence Folline of New Orleans. Also known as Frank Leslie after she legally took her deceased third husband’s name. Her fourth marriage to Oscar Wilde’s brother, Willy, ended in divorce after two years. |  James Abbott McNeil Whistler
1834 - 1903
American born artist
After West Point, he worked as a draftsman, entertaining himself by decorating his maps with mermaids, sea serpents, whales, etc. before establishing his art & his distinctive butterfly signature abroad. |  Theodore Roosevelt
1858 - 1919
Suffering from asthma, Roosevelt’s homebound, sickly childhood was reminiscent of Bram’s own. Bram met New York City police commissioner Roosevelt in 1895, and noted "Must be President some day. A man you can't cajole, can't frighten, can't buy." Roosevelt would be governor of New York, Vice-President, and the 26th U.S. President.
His slogan was, "Speak softly and carry a big stick.” |
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