James Roland MacLaren

Who was James Roland MacLaren?

James Roland MacLaren was a British actor and playwright born on 10 June 1839 in Bonhill, Scotland to Archibald MacLaren and Anne McIntyre. The family later moved to Liverpool, where James Roland MacLaren first took to the stage, appearing second to Barry Sullivan, the well known Victorian actor. He subsequently went to Sunderland with Alfred Davis where he took over the New Royal Lyceum Theatre. It was here with MacLaren that the actor Sir Henry Irving made his first stage appearances before moving to London where he later became famous as the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Count Dracula. For some thirty years MacLaren was renowned in the north east of England as an actor in stock companies, a noted recitalist and a playwright. He usually played heavy villain roles and was popular amongst the audience as the 'traitor'.

His most noted work is arguably the play Jack Crawford the Hero of Camperdown, a dramatisation of the story depicting the heroic actions of Jack Crawford during the Battle of Camperdown in 1797. He also wrote the play, The Cauld Lad O'Hylton, a story of the ghost of Hilton Castle.