Craig, (Edward Henry) Gordon 1872-1966
English actor, stage designer, director and theorist

He was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, the son of Ellen Terry and her lover, the architect William Godwin. He acted for eight years under Henry Irving at the Lyceum and retired from the stage in 1897, but his acting experience led him to approach theatrical design, with the aim of simplifying the scene and emphasizing the actors. His ideas were too advanced for England, where his three productions for his mother were failures, but he was acclaimed in Germany, Italy and Russia, where he produced Hamlet (1912) at the Moscow Arts Theatre. He settled in Italy (1906), published the journal The Mask (1908-29), and founded a theatrical art school in Florence (1913). He greatly influenced scenic design in the USA and Europe. His published works include On the Art of the Theatre (1911), Towards a New Theatre (1913), The Theatre Advancing (1921), Ellen Terry and Her Secret Self (1931) and the autobiographical Index to the Story of My Days (1957).

Bibliography: Edward Craig, Gordon Craig: The Story of His LIfe (1968)