While Belasco was in Washington, with his new play “The Girl of the Golden West,” there befell one of the saddest bereavements and one of the greatest losses the Stage has ever known,—the sudden, pathetic death of that great actor and manager and even greater man Henry Irving, which occurred at Bradford, England, October 13, 1905, immediately after the close of his performance in “Becket.” Belasco, always one of his disciples and most ardent admirers, when informed of his death, paid him this tribute: “There are no more such masters! The English-speaking, the modern, Stage has lost its greatest inspiration! The name of Henry Irving stood for all that was artistic in the highest sense. He was the loyalest servant of the public; the friend, the champion of the Stage. He belonged to us almost as much as to England. And what is saddest of all, he leaves no one behind him to take his place. He was a great, a marvellous, actor, a dramatic genius; he was the greatest stage director of modern times; he was the prince of managers; and, what was best of all, he was the best and kindest of men and the truest of friends. God rest his great soul! He has died as he would have wished, but we shall not look upon his like again.”
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