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Thomas Holcroft (1745–1809)
Holcroft, Thomas. An English dramatic author and adapter; born in London, Dec. 10, 1745; died there, March 23, 1809. By turn stable boy, school usher, journalist, and strolling actor, he began to write for the stage about 1778. ‘The Road to Ruin,’ the best of his many plays, was staged in 1792. His ‘Tale of Mystery’ (1802) brought into favor the melodrama, which has kept the stage ever since. He translated the ‘Mariage de Figaro’ and other French and German plays. He left ‘Memoirs’ pronounced by Thomas Moore the most interesting in the language.