John Drew, Sr.

John Drew, Sr. (born Sept. 3, 1827, Dublin, Ire.—died May 21, 1862, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) was a theatrical manager and leading American actor of Irish romantic comedy. One of his best roles was as Gerald Pepper in Samuel Lover’s White House of the Peppers.

After a brief career as a seaman, Drew turned to the stage, making his New York debut sometime between 1842 and 1846. With the juvenile actor William Wheatley, he assumed management of the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia, probably in 1853, though some accounts place this event 10 years earlier. In 1850 he married the actress and theatrical manager Louisa Lane, who assumed management of the theatre in 1861. Drew toured widely, visiting England and Ireland in 1855, California and Australia in 1857, Australia and England again in 1858, and returned home in 1862, a few months before his death.