W. S. Gilbert

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most famous of these include H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre, The Mikado. The popularity of these works was supported for over a century by year-round performances of them, in Britain and abroad, by the repertory company that Gilbert, Sullivan and their producer Richard D'Oyly Carte founded, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. These Savoy operas are still frequently performed in the English-speaking world and beyond.

18 November 1836

Born on the same birth day (18 November): Bernhard Luxbacher • David Wilkie (artist) • Elizabeth Perkins • François Duval • James Welch (writer) • John Parr • Karl Schranz • Lucy Akhurst • Luis Somoza Debayle • Marie-Josée Ta Lou • Nadia Sawalha • November 18 • Roy Sievers • Trent Barrett

Born in the same month (November 1836): Andrés Avelino Cáceres • Henry J. Lutcher • Kalākaua • Lord Frederick Cavendish • Milton Bradley • Thomas Bailey Aldrich