John Courtney

Who was John Courtney?

John Courtney was a Victorian playwright, dramatic actor and comedian. Courtney was the stage name of John Fuller. He wrote over 60 plays, including the popular dramas Time Tries All first performed in 1848, which attained great success around the UK and also in the USA from the 1850s to at least the 1880s, and Eustice Baudin, which attained even greater success in the USA through to at least the 1890s. He wrote the first theatrical adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre which was rediscovered in 2009. One of his early acting performances was in 1829 as Colonel Freelove in The Day after the Wedding or A Wife's First Lesson adapted by Maria Theresa Kemble from the original French comedy.