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Harry Selby
Walter Plinge
Mr. F. Anney
Mr. Bart
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George Spelvin is a fictitious name that is sometimes
used in a program by an actor whose real name already appears in the same
program. Sometimes the name appears when an individuals name is
not known at the time of printing.
Reference to George Spelvin first appears in 1886 in the Broadway production
of Karl The Peddler by Charles A. Gardiner.
The tradition started in 1907 in a play called Brewster's Millions by Winchell Smith and Byron Ongley.
A minor actor in the production doubled in two rolls and used the name George Spelvin for one of the parts. The play was so successful that the author continued to use the name in the rest of his productions for luck.
The playBrewster's Millions was adapted from the 1902 novel by George Barr McCutcheon. The play opened at New York's New Amsterdam Theater on December 31, 1906.
Harry Selby is another name that is sometimes
used instead of George Spelvin. British counterparts include; Walter
Plinge, Mr. F. Anney, and Mr. Bart. The name Georgena Spelvin
was used by an actress in a number of soft-porn films.
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