John Le Hay

[1] As a young actor he made his first stage appearance at the King's Cross Theatre in London[2] and then travelled with a minstrel troupe, where he developed his gift for ventriloquism.

Mr Le Hay is so natural that one feels inclined to believe that he is really saturated with official snobbishness and upstart arrogance; while his singing is capital, and his clear enunciation especially commendable.

[12] In 1891 Le Hay played Sir Guy of Gisborne in Maid Marian by Harry B. Smith and Reginald De Koven,[4] after which he rejoined D'Oyly Carte for a year.

[13] In November Richard D'Oyly Carte brought him to London to play Master Guillot in the British premiere of Messager's The Basoche at the Royal English Opera House;[14] The Era judged it his best performance to date.

[16] Later in 1892 Le Hay played Sacrovir in The Wedding Eve, an adaptation of an opérette by Frédéric Toulmouche, with Decima Moore as its leading lady,[17] after which he recreated his original role of Tom Strutt in a revival of Dorothy.

[18] In 1893 he was in The Black Domino, a melodrama starring Mrs. Patrick Campbell, in which Le Hay played a character role, and Arthur Williams provided the principal comic relief.

[20] He rejoined D'Oyly Carte for the last time in late 1893, creating the part of Phantis in Utopia, Limited at the Savoy Theatre, and playing it until the end of the run in June 1894.

[4] In 1896, he played Alexander McGregor in the musical comedy My Girl, an Edwardes production written by James T. Tanner, Carr and Adrian Ross, in a West End cast that also included Ellaline Terriss, Willie Warde and Connie Ediss.

[25] Le Hay appeared in New York as Hassan in Hood and Sullivan's The Rose of Persia (1900, opposite Ruth Vincent as the Sultana),[26] and as Coquenard in the American premiere of Messager's Véronique (1905).

[28] The reviewer in Punch wrote, "Mr John Le Hay gave us a superb little study of an old countryman which richly deserved the enthusiastic applause that rewarded it".