Sheridan was baptized in Dublin on November 4, 1751, his father Thomas Sheridan being an actor-manager who managed a Theatre Royal, Dublin for a period, & his mother, Frances Sheridan, a writer. She died whenever her boy was xv.

Sheridan was educated at Harrow School, and was to learn law. Nevertheless, his extremely romanticistic elopement by having Elizabeth Linley (girl of Thomas Linley), and their subsequent marriage within 1773, put paid to such hopes. Whenever he returned to London, he began writing for the stage. His 1st play, The Rivals, produced at Covent Garden in 1775, was a failure in its number 1 nighttime. Sheridan cast a additional capable actor for the role of the risible Irishman for its 2nd performance, & it was the smash which immediately established the immature dramatist's reputation. It has no more in to be the standard of English literature.

Getting quickly manufactured his title & fortune, Sheridan bought the part around Drury Lane. His best known play The School for Scandal (1777) is considered one of the greatest comedies of manners in English. It was followed by The Critic (1779), an updating of the satirical Restoration play A Rehearsal.

Sheridan was as well the Whig politician, entering parliament around 1780 under the sponsorship of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. A great orator, he remained within parliament until 1812, and was the leading figure in the person. He was besides a nifty-grandfather of Lord Dufferin, third Governor General of Canada and eighth Viceroy of India.