Giradot, Etienne

(1856-1939)

   Despite the French name, Etienne Giradot was born in London and worked as an actor there before scoring a major Broadway success as Lord Fancourt Bab-berley in the 1893 American debut of Brandon Thomas's enduring farce, Charley's Aunt. Giradot appeared opposite Minnie Maddern Fiske in Leah Kleschna (1904) and in other roles. He was in constant demand for revivals of Charley's Aunt and became so associated with that role that it proved difficult for him to find others. His final stage appearance, as the deranged religious zealot in Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's* Twentieth Century* (1932), won plaudits. He appeared occasionally in silent motion pictures as well as in small roles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) and The Story of Ver-non and Irene Castle (1939).