John Brougham (9 May 1814 – 7 June 1880) was an Irish and American actor, dramatist, poet, theatre manager, and author.

After further performances in England and Ireland in the first half of the 1860s, Brougham returned to New York City in October 1865, after the end of the war, to join the company of players at the Winter Garden Theatre.

By this time his popularity had declined, but he remained active as a performer at the Winter Garden and in the theatre troupe of Augustin Daly until October 1879.

His mother, the daughter of a Protestant French Huguenot, was forced to live in exile due to the politics and religious persecution of her time.

[4] After this he matriculated to Trinity College Dublin;[1] where he acquired a classical education and became involved in student theatrical productions.

[4] He became acquainted with the actress Lucia Elizabeth Vestris, and became involved with a social set of friends who produced their own plays.

[1] Having fallen into difficult economic conditions, his uncle had to end his financial support and Brougham had to stop his education.

[1] While having a brief experience of living in poverty in London, Brougham had a chance meeting with Lucia Elizabeth Vestri; whom he had befriended earlier at Trinity College.

[1] In 1842 he moved to the United States, where he made his debut starring in a production of William Bayle Bernard's His Last Legs at the Park Theatre in Manhattan.

Later he was the manager of Niblo's Garden, and in 1850 opened Brougham's Lyceum, which, like his next speculation, the lease of the Bowery Theatre, was not a financial success, despite the popularity of such works as Po-ca-hon-tas; or, The Gentle Savage.

Brougham's Theatre was opened in 1869 with his comedies Better Late than Never and Much Ado About a Merchant of Venice, but this managerial experience was also a failure, due to disagreements with his business partner, Jim Fisk, and he took to playing the stock market.

[6] He was twice married, in 1838 to Emma Williams (d. 1865), and, in 1844, to Annette Hawley, daughter of Captain Nelson, R.N., and widow of Mr. Hodges (d. 1870), both actresses.

[3] Brougham's 1880 obituary in The New York Tribune listed the following works as his "most conspicuous plays": Life in the Clouds, Love's Livery, Enthusiasm, Thom Thumb the Second, The Demon Gift (with Mark Lemon), Bunsby's Wedding, The Confidence Man, Don Caeser de Bassoon, Vanity Fair, The Irish Yankee, Benjamin Franklin, All's Fair in Love, The Irish Emigrant, Dombey and Son (dramatization), Home, Ambrose Germain, The World's Fair, Faustus, The Spirit of Air, Row at the Lyceum, David Copperfield (dramatization), The Actress of Padua (new version), The Pirates of the Mississippi, The Red Mask, Orion, the Gold-Beater, Tom and Jerry in America, The Miller of New Jersey, The Game of Love, Bleak House (adaptation), My Cousin German, A Decided Case, The Game of Life, Pocahantas, Neptune's Defeat, Love and Murder, Romance and Reality, The Ruling Passion, Playing With Fire, Columbus (burlesque), This House to Be Sold, The Duke's Motto, Bel Demonio, Lady Audley's Secret (adaptation), Only a Clod (adaptation), Better Late than Never, The Emerald Ring, Irish Stew, Much Ado About a Merchant of Venice, The Red Light, Minnie's Luck, John Garth, and The Lily of France.