John Rumbelow
John Rumbelow (1876-1906) was a New Zealand comic actor, best known as "Little Gulliver"
Contents
Biography
Born at White Hills, near Bendigo, Victoria, in New Zealand on 14 January, 1876. He was a natural midget, perfectly formed, and his height was 3ft 4in. Immensely popular in New Zealand and Australia, he was for a long time a key member of the John F. Sheridan company, touring many countries with them.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
He probably visited South Africa in 1904 with The Sheridan Comedy Company, when they undertook a six month tour of the country under the management of Frank and Ben Wheeler, performing Fun on the Bristol (Sheridan and Fawcett) and Mrs Dooley's Little Joke (Finn and Sheridan).
Sources
"John Rumbelow, "Little Gulliver" 14/1/1876-12/1/1906". Posted on the blog "In Loving Memory" by Otago Taphophile on Sunday, 27 January 2019[1]
Otago Witness, Issue 2705, 17 January 1906, Page 59, PapersPast website[2].
D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.421
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