I . Henry Irving
(1838–1905)
an English actor who became famous in the late 19th century for his theatre performances of Shakespeare plays. He often acted with Ellen Terry . He was made a knight in 1895, the first actor to receive this honour.
II . John Irving
(1942– )
a US author of humorous and unusual novels. His best-known is The World According to Garp (1978), about an author who is killed by one of his readers. It was made into a 1982 film with Robin Williams . In 1999 he won an Oscar for the screenplay based on his novel The Cider House Rules (1985), and The Hotel New Hampshire (1981) was also filmed.
III . Washington Irving
(1783–1859)
the first US writer to gain an international reputation. He is best known for two short stories, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle , which were published in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent (1820). He also wrote the comic History of New York (1809) under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker. Irving was later the US ambassador to Spain (1842–6).
See also Knickerbocker , Rip Van Winkle .