Playwright, Actor. His parents were mother Anne and reputed to be Dionysius Lardner, a lodger at his mother's house. This is supported by the financial support Lardner provided and Anne following Lardner to London. He bounced between several schools but in 1837 while attending Wyke House he wrote his first amateur play "The Old Guard." He returned to Dublin and served a short apprenticeship as a civil engineer, before abandoning it for the stage. He adopted the stage name of Lee Morton, making his first appearance in Bristol. In 1841, "London Assurance" was a major success debuting at Covent Garden. He followed this with a series of seven plays, most notably "The Corsican Brothers" in 1852. His first lead role was in "The Vampire." He relocated to the United States with his second wife, Agnes in 1853, living there for six years. He continued to write plays and tour. He, along with other playwrights, pushed for copyright law for drama in the United States. Teaming with his business manager, William Stuart, they started leasing theatres for short runs. In 1859, he and Stuart renovated an old theatre on Broadway and renamed it the Winter Garden. He premiered and starred in his play "The Octoroon," which directly attacked the institution of slavery. After falling out with Stuart, he returned to Britain. His production of "The Colleen Bawn," was an overwhelming success both in the United States and the United Kingdom. He also adopted for the stage, a version of Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle." He continued to have successes with "Arrah-no-Pogue," and "The Shaughraun." His last appearance in London was in 1885. He returned again to the states where he remained until his death. During a tour of Australia in October of 1885, he abandoned his second wife to marry Josephine Louise. His flagrant bigamy cost him the rights of many of his plays in the divorce proceedings. At the time of his death he was an acting teacher in New York City. Around one hundred fifty plays are credited to him, many of which enjoyed great popularity and success. His introduction of social themes would color the work of future playwrights both in Europe and America. His second marriage produced six children, three of which would follow their father and garner acting success as well.