Buckstone, the theatrical ghost
John B. Buckstone (1802-1879) was a comic actor, loved as much for his amiability as for his acting ability, who went on to manage London’s Haymarket Theatre. He was one of those actors who played all parts in the same way – essentially, it seemed, as himself. Audiences and producers were happy to let him do so. (Buckstone was a lifelong friend of one of the theatre world’s most famous, J R Planché .) Buckstone was a fat and friendly character who could send an audience into fits of laughter with little more than a roll of his eyes. For many years after his death his ghost was said to haunt the Haymarket Theatre – though, given the man’s acting style, it seems unlikely anyone was ever frightened by these subsequent appearances.
