Edmund Payne

Edmund James "Teddy"^[1] Payne (14 December 1863 – 15 July 1914),^[2] was an English actor, comedian and singer best known for creating comic roles in a series of extremely successful Edwardian musical comedies. He was often paired with the comic actor George Grossmith, Jr.

After about a decade touring and in stock productions, Payne joined the company at the Gaiety Theatre in London, gaining notice for creating a comic character in the musical In Town (1892). He spent more than two decades at the Gaiety, using his diminutive stature, malleable features, distinctive lisp and comic dance ability to his advantage. His further successes in the 1890s included lovable comic characters in such long-running shows as The Shop Girl (1894), The Circus Girl (1896) and A Runaway Girl (1898). In the new century, he created memorable characters in such hits as The Messenger Boy (1900), The Toreador (1902), The Orchid (1903), The Spring Chicken (1905), The Girls of Gottenberg (1907), Our Miss Gibbs (1909) and The Sunshine Girl (1912).