'''Sydney Grundy''' ([[March 23]] [[1848]] – [[July 4]] [[1914]]) was an English dramatist. He was born in [[Manchester]], England, and died in [[London]].

Grundy was the son of Alderman Charles Sydney Grundy. He was educated at [[Victoria University of Manchester|Owens College]], Manchester, and practiced at the bar from 1869 until 1876. 

==Life and career==
His early farce, ''A Little Change'', was produced at the Haymarket Theatre in 1872. 

Grundy became well known as an adapter of plays. Among his earlier successes were ''The Snowball'' (1879), based on ''Oscar, ou le marl qui trompe sa femme'' by [[Eugène Scribe]] and Duvergne, ''In Honour Bound'' (1880), based on Scribe's ''tine Chaine'', and ''The Silver Shield'' (1885).  ''The Bells of Haslemere'', written with H. Pettitt, was a success in 1887. In 1889–1890 Grundy produced two original comedies, ''A White Lie'' and ''A Fool's Paradise'', which had been produced two years earlier as ''The Mouse-Trap''. 

Grundy's original [[libretto|libretti]] included the one-act "musical absurdity" ''Popsy Wopsy'' (1880), the full-length ''[[The Vicar of Bray]]'' (1882) and ''Pocahontas'' (1884), both with [[Edward Solomon]],  and ''[[Haddon Hall (opera)|Haddon Hall]]'' (1892), with [[Arthur Sullivan]]. 

Among Grundy's most successful adaptations were ''A Pair of Spectacles'' (1889) from ''Les Petits Oiseaux'' of Labiche and Delacour. Others were ''A Village Priest'' (1890) from ''Le Secret de la terreuse'' and a melodrama by Busnach and Cauvin. These were followed by ''Sowing the Wind'' (1893); ''An Old Jew'' (1894); an adaptation of [[Octave Feuillet]]'s ''Montjoye'', called ''A Bunch of Violets'' (1894); ''The New Woman'' (1894); ''The Slaves of the Ring'' (1894); and ''The Greatest of These'' (1895).

Later notable works included ''A Marriage of Convenience'' (1897) from ''Un Mariage de Louis XV'', by [[Alexandre Dumas, père]], ''The Silver Key'' (1897) from his ''Mlle de Belle-isle'', and ''The Musqueteers'' (1899) from the same author's novel. These were followed by ''The Degenerates'' (1899); ''A Debt of Honour'' (1900); ''Frocks and Frills'' (1902) from ''Doigts de fees'' of Scribe and [[Ernest Legouvé]]; ''The Garden of Lies'' (1904) from [[Justus Miles Forman]]'s novel; ''Business is Business'' (1905), a rather free adaptation from [[Octave Mirbeau]]'s ''Les Affaires sont les affaires''; and ''The Diplomatists'' (1905) from ''La Poudre aux yeux'', by Labiche.

==External links==
*[http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Sydney_Grundy Biography with list of notable plays]
*[http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/other_sullivan/haddon_hall/haddon_intro.html Haddon Hall page]
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0344581/ IMDB page]
*[http://home.comcast.net/~m.chitty/plays.htm Describes a number of Grundy's plays, among others]

[[Category:English dramatists and playwrights|Grundy, Sydney]]
[[Category:Opera librettists|Grundy, Sydney]]
[[Category:People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan|Grundy, Sydney]]
[[Category:1848 births|Grundy, Sydney]]
[[Category:1914 deaths|Grundy, Sydney]]