John Rumbelow

John Rumbelow (1876-1906) was a New Zealand comic actor, best known as "Little Gulliver"

Biography

Born in Nieu Zealand at White Hills, near Bendigo, Victoria, on January 14, 1876, so that at the time of his death he was just on 29 years of age. 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 was seems to have visited visited South Africa in 1904 for a six month tour of the country by The Sheridan Comedy Company, under the management of Frank and Ben Wheeler. They played in the Good Hope Theatre, Cape Town, during September. Besides the actor manager John F. Sheridan himself, the company also featured the popular midget[1] performer John Rumbelow (known as "Little Gulliver"), a long-time member of Sheridan's enterprise.

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[2]

Otago Witness, Issue 2705, 17 January 1906, Page 59, PapersPast website[3].

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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