Francis Adolphus Vane-Tempest

Francis Adolphus Vane-Tempest (4 January 1863 – 10 December 1932) was an English actor of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. He was known for playing amiable but not over-bright upper class characters. Among the roles he created was Mr Dumby in Oscar Wilde's 1892 comedy Lady Windermere's Fan. His theatrical career continued until the First World War, when he joined the army. He did not return to the stage thereafter. Life and career Vane-Tempest was born in London on 4 January, the only child of Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Stewart Vane-Tempest and his wife Lady Susan Vane-Tempest née Pelham-Clinton. He was educated at Harrow School and Balliol College, Oxford. After leaving Oxford he attempted to pursue a political career, unsuccessfully standing for the Conservatives in the Mid-Durham constituency at elections in 1885 and 1890. During this period he was prominent in amateur theatricals, often staged by him together with the professional Arthur Bourchier, raising money for charitable causes. In 1891 he turned professional, and toured with Kate Vaughan in H. A. Jones's The Dancing Girl. His role, the Hon Reginald Slingsby, was a comic upper-class knut, and Vane-Tempest was frequently cast as similar characters during the rest of his career.