The diary of a nobody

GEORGE GROSSMITH (1847-1912), worked as a police-court reporter before embarking on a career as a singer and comedian in 1870. From 1877 to 1889 he was a prominent member of the D'Oyly Carte Company and played many leading roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Subsequently, he toured Great Britain and the United States as a singer and entertainer until 1901. Apart from works of reminiscence, The Diary of a Nobody (1892) is his only book-length publication. WEEDON GROSSMITH (1854-1919), George's brother, trained as an artist at the West London School of Art and the Royal Academy. He was not financially successful as a painter, however, and from 1885 also pursued a career on the stage. He published one novel, A Woman with a History (1896), and a number of plays, including The Night of the Part), (1901). Weedon became manager of Terry's Theatre, London, and continued to act there and elsewhere until 1917.