GRUNDY

grundy, sydney (1848- ), english dramatist, was born at manchester on the 23rd of march 1848, son of alderman charles sydney grundy. he was educated at owens college, manchester, and was called to the bar in 1869, practising in manchester until 1876. his farce, _a little change_, was produced at the haymarket theatre in 1872. he became well known as an adapter of plays, among his early successes in this direction being _the snowball_ (strand theatre, 1879) from _oscar, ou le mari qui trompe sa femme_ by mm. scribe and duvergne, and _in honour bound_ (1880) from scribe's _une chaine_. in 1887 he made a popular success with _the bells of haslemere_, written with mr h. pettitt and produced at the adelphi. in 1889-1890 he produced two ingenious original comedies, _a white lie_ (court theatre) and _a fool's paradise_ (gaiety theatre), which had been played two years earlier at greenwich as _the mouse-trap_. these were followed by _sowing the wind_ (comedy, 1893), _an old jew_ (garrick, 1894), and by an adaptation of octave feuillet's _montjoye as a bunch of violets_ (haymarket, 1894). in 1894 he produced _the new woman_ and _the slaves of the ring_; in 1895, _the greatest of these_, played by mr and mrs kendal at the garrick theatre; _the degenerates_ (haymarket, 1899), and _a debt of honour_ (st james's 1900). among mr grundy's most successful adaptations were the charming _pair of spectacles_ (garrick, 1890) from _les petits oiseaux_ of mm. labiche and delacour. others were _a village priest_ (haymarket, 1890) from _le secret de la terreuse_, a melodrama by mm. busnach and cauvin; _a marriage of convenience_ (haymarket, 1897) from _un mariage de louis xv_, by alex. dumas, pere, _the silver key_ (her majesty's, 1897) from his _mlle de belle-isle_, and _the musqueteers_ (1899) from the same author's novel; _frocks and frills_ (haymarket, 1902) from the _doigts de fees_ of mm. scribe and legouve; _the garden of lies_ (st james's theatre, 1904) from mr justus miles forman's novel; _business is business_ (his majesty's theatre, 1905), a rather free adaptation from octave mirbeau's _les affaires sont les affaires_; and _the diplomatists_ (royalty theatre, 1905) from _la poudre aux yeux_, by labiche.