Ivan Berlyn (1867 â€" 11 December 1934) was an English actor of stage
and silent film whose career spanned four decades. An experienced and
versatile actor, Beryln played ‘... weird and eccentric character
parts' in everything from pantomime to Shakespeare.He was born in
Kensington in London as Isaac Berlin, the son of Emanuel Berlin
(1839-1921) a Jewish ‘mercantile clerk’ and a native of Hamburg
who immigrated to England in 1857, and his wife Amelia née Joseph
(1836-1915), who married in 1864. In the 1906 edition of the actors'
directory The Green Room Book Berlyn made the spurious claim that he
had been born as Ivan Emanuel Julian von Berlin and was descended from
an ancient family from Alsace-Lorraine. He further claimed he had
originally planned to join the legal profession but instead decided on
a career on the stage, training at the London School of Elocution (the
South London School of Elocution and Dramatic Art) established by
Samuel Brandram. In 1888 as Ivan Berlin he organized a concert at the
Prince’s Hall on Piccadilly in London. Also as Ivan Berlin he is
listed in the 1891 Census as residing at 17 All Saints Road,
Kensington with his parents and his sisters, Emily and Jenny Berlin
and his brother, Joachim Norman Berlin (1875-1943), described as the
‘Manager of the Chelsea Palace’.Berlyn's stage appearances
include: Doctor Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor with Oscar Asche
at the Haymarket Theatre (1929); in Henry V, Julius Caesar and The
Merchant of Venice at the Alhambra Theatre in London (1933-1934);
Norman in 100 Not Out at the Queen’s Theatre, London (1930); Weird
Sister in Macbeth at the Prince’s Theatre, London (1926-1927); in
The Banana Girl at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London (1925); Monty
Gordon in Camille States Her Case at the Globe Theatre (1925);
Krashoff in The Dare-Devil at the Strand Theatre (1924); Ichneumon
Fly, Inventor in the British premiere of The Insect Play at the Regent
Theatre, London (1922-1923); Destiny in The Betrothal at the Gaiety
Theatre (1921); Humphrey in The Knight of the Burning Pestle at the
Kingsway Theatre (1920) with Noël Coward and Roger Livesey; in Double
Dutch at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue (1916-1917); Signor
Berchili in The Dancing Mistress starring Gertie Millar and with music
by Lionel Monckton at the Adelphi Theatre, London (1912); Sambaroff in
The Great Young Man, a comedy by Prince Vladimir Vladimirovich
Baryatinsky (revised version of his The Career of Nablotsky) at the
Kingsway Theatre in London (1911); Sambaroff in The Career of
Nablotsky by Prince V. V. Baryatinsky at the Royalty Theatre
(1910-1911); Yepikhodov in The Cherry Orchard at the Aldwych Theatre,
London (1910-1911); in Links at the Scala Theatre, London (1907-1908);
in Véronique at the Prince’s Theatre in Bristol (1905-1906), and
Fagin in Oliver Twist at the Grand Theatre in Islington (1903).In 1922
Berlyn played Shylock in the Trial Scene from Merchant of Venice
section of the film Tense Moments from Great Plays (1922) and Fagin in
the Nancy section of the film Tense Moments with Great Authors (1922),
with Sybil Thorndike as Nancy.
and silent film whose career spanned four decades. An experienced and
versatile actor, Beryln played ‘... weird and eccentric character
parts' in everything from pantomime to Shakespeare.He was born in
Kensington in London as Isaac Berlin, the son of Emanuel Berlin
(1839-1921) a Jewish ‘mercantile clerk’ and a native of Hamburg
who immigrated to England in 1857, and his wife Amelia née Joseph
(1836-1915), who married in 1864. In the 1906 edition of the actors'
directory The Green Room Book Berlyn made the spurious claim that he
had been born as Ivan Emanuel Julian von Berlin and was descended from
an ancient family from Alsace-Lorraine. He further claimed he had
originally planned to join the legal profession but instead decided on
a career on the stage, training at the London School of Elocution (the
South London School of Elocution and Dramatic Art) established by
Samuel Brandram. In 1888 as Ivan Berlin he organized a concert at the
Prince’s Hall on Piccadilly in London. Also as Ivan Berlin he is
listed in the 1891 Census as residing at 17 All Saints Road,
Kensington with his parents and his sisters, Emily and Jenny Berlin
and his brother, Joachim Norman Berlin (1875-1943), described as the
‘Manager of the Chelsea Palace’.Berlyn's stage appearances
include: Doctor Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor with Oscar Asche
at the Haymarket Theatre (1929); in Henry V, Julius Caesar and The
Merchant of Venice at the Alhambra Theatre in London (1933-1934);
Norman in 100 Not Out at the Queen’s Theatre, London (1930); Weird
Sister in Macbeth at the Prince’s Theatre, London (1926-1927); in
The Banana Girl at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London (1925); Monty
Gordon in Camille States Her Case at the Globe Theatre (1925);
Krashoff in The Dare-Devil at the Strand Theatre (1924); Ichneumon
Fly, Inventor in the British premiere of The Insect Play at the Regent
Theatre, London (1922-1923); Destiny in The Betrothal at the Gaiety
Theatre (1921); Humphrey in The Knight of the Burning Pestle at the
Kingsway Theatre (1920) with Noël Coward and Roger Livesey; in Double
Dutch at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue (1916-1917); Signor
Berchili in The Dancing Mistress starring Gertie Millar and with music
by Lionel Monckton at the Adelphi Theatre, London (1912); Sambaroff in
The Great Young Man, a comedy by Prince Vladimir Vladimirovich
Baryatinsky (revised version of his The Career of Nablotsky) at the
Kingsway Theatre in London (1911); Sambaroff in The Career of
Nablotsky by Prince V. V. Baryatinsky at the Royalty Theatre
(1910-1911); Yepikhodov in The Cherry Orchard at the Aldwych Theatre,
London (1910-1911); in Links at the Scala Theatre, London (1907-1908);
in Véronique at the Prince’s Theatre in Bristol (1905-1906), and
Fagin in Oliver Twist at the Grand Theatre in Islington (1903).In 1922
Berlyn played Shylock in the Trial Scene from Merchant of Venice
section of the film Tense Moments from Great Plays (1922) and Fagin in
the Nancy section of the film Tense Moments with Great Authors (1922),
with Sybil Thorndike as Nancy.
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