Actor, comedian, writer, director, vaudeville artist, manager/entreprenuer and teacher.
One of the most eminent actors of his generation, Harry Leston was born John Joseph Daly in New Zealand but grew up in Sydney. He reportedly began his theatrical career in as a teenage mesmerist (Prof. Leston) but in 1868 came under the guidance of actor/director J. R. Greville. For much of the 1870s he was associated with Greville and his partners Richard Stewart, John Hennings, George Coppin and Henry Harwood, while also appearing in productions written by Garnet Walch, Marcus Clarke and E. Lewis Scott among others.
Leston initially found success with stock Irish policemen roles, but by the 1880s he had become a fully-rounded character actor playing anything from Shakespeare and Dickens through to melodrama, farce and pantomime. He had a long association with Alfred Dampier in the 1880s and performed with Howard Vernon in productions of Gilbert and Sullivan. He also appeared in productions staged by George Darrell, Dion Boucicault, Samuel Lazar, and Williamson, Garner and Musgrove.
Although considered one of the country's most popular actors, chronic sea sickness forced him to work primarily in either Melbourne of Sydney. He eventually settled in Sydney in the late 1880s. From 1889 he also made occasional ventures into the variety industry, as an actor, reciter, director, writer and manager/entrepreneur. His forays into theatrical management included Hagan, Buckley and Leston's Minstrel and Speciality Consolidation (1889), Harry Leston's 'Round the World' Company (1890), and Leston and Bullers' Suburban Concert and Dramatic Company (1895). In 1892 he was also engaged by Dan Tracey to write, direct and star in a series of burlesques at the School of Arts. A number of these productions were satires on productions he'd performed in during the 1880s, including those staged by Alfred Dampier.
In the early 1890s Leston also established himself as a teacher of elocution and dramatic art. He initially went into partnership with Walter Howe, and in later years occasionally teamed up with other thespians, notably Charles Hall. His teaching academy not only catered for aspiring actors but also for the legal profession, clergymen and politicians. In 1904 he also co-founded the Sydney Orchestral College with Francis Peel and S. C. Jeffcott (it continued operating until 1911).
Leston's semi-retirement from the professional stage in 1906 was in part also the result of a long illness he suffered during his fifties. An operation for appendicitis in June that year prompted a benefit on his behalf at Sydney's Theatre Royal on 6 September. Despite retiring Leston as a fulltime actor, Leston continued to be involved in various aspects of theatre - both amateur and professional. He worked as a stage manager/director for Harry Clay around 1908-1909 and regularly directed productions for local amateur companies and his own students (The "Lestonian Club"). He also presented occasional seasons of drama - either under his own management or for other entrepreneurs. IN 1914 and 1915, for example, he produced several dramatic sketches for vaudeville patrons at Harry Clay's Bridge Theatre.
