Lupino family

c.1870 Sarah Lane The Queen of Hoxton

Lupino is the surname of a British theatre family tradition which traces its roots to an Italian émigré of the early 17th century. The "Lupino" name is derived from two unrelated families:^[1]

• the original Luppino or Lupino family, seventeenth century emigres from Italy to England
• the later Hook family, which assumed the Lupino surname.

Actress and director Ida Lupino (1918–1995)^[2] and her uncle, theatre and movie actor, dancer, singer, acrobat and author Lupino Lane (Henry George Lupino, 1892–1959), descend from this line.

Several of the Hook family also adopted the surname Lane from Sarah Lane (1822–1899, née Borrow), the director of the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, to whom they were related.

Family descent

Luppino family

Giorgio Luppino came from a family of Italian puppet makers. He fled to England as a political refugee

George William Luppino (1632–1693), son of Georgius, a singer, reciter and puppet master

George Charles Luppino (1662-1???), son of George William, a performer and puppeteer from age of 8

George Charles Luppino (1683–1723), son of George Charles, a dancer, known as The Motion Master of Long Acre

George Richard Eastcourt Luppino (1710–1787), son of George Charles, a dancer, an apprentice to John Rich, the founder of English Pantomime. He married Rosina Volante

Thomas Frederick Luppino (1749–1845), son of George Richard Eastcourt, a dancer and scenic artist. He married Elizabeth.

Samuel George Lupino (1766–1830), son of Thomas Frederick, an acrobatic dancer

Harry Lupino and his son Lupino Lane, in Jack and Jill, 1907-8 at The Prince's Bristol

Hook family

Unrelated dancer George Hook (George Hook Lupino, 1820–1902) assumed the surname Lupino after working with members of the Lupino family. He became famous in the role of Harlequin and married Rosina Sophia Proctor (1831–1908) and had 16 children, at least 10 of whom became professional dancers, two of them marrying into the family of Sara Lane, manager of the Britannia Theatre Hoxton.

Of George Hook Lupino's 16 children:

• George Lupino (1853–1932), performed in Drury Lane pantomimes of the 1890s, with Dan Leno and was the father of George Barry (Barry) Lupino (1884–1962), Mark Lupino (1889–1930) and Vaudeville performer, actor, and writer Stanley Lupino (1893–1942)^[3] (father of Ida)
• Arthur Lupino (1864–1908) Animal impersonator. First to play the role of the role of Nana in Peter Pan in 1904
• Harry Charles Lupino (1867–1925), married into the Lane family and was the father of Lupino Lane (Henry William George Lupino, 1892–1959)^[4] and Wallace Lupino (1898–1961).

Other members from this second line include Stanley Lupino (1893–1942), Peter Lupino (1912–1994), and Rita Lupino (1920).

Living descendents of the Lupino family who maintain the family tradition include Sara Lupino Lane (granddaughter of Lupino Lane), patron of The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America, and Patricia Lupino-Thompson. Thompson, former principal of a dance school in Manchester, is now a Fellow, examiner, lecturer, technical committee member and director of the International Dance Teachers Association, and a dance adjudicator for the British Federation of Festivals.

References

1. "The name Lupino was not the family name, but was adopted by George Hook (1820–1902) who appropriated the name Luppino - his one-time partner. (George Barry Lupino) Barry's family history adopted the antecedents of the real Italian Luppino and grafted them onto the Hook family tree." taken from: Pantomime, A Story in Pictures:(Theatrical History collection, 1973)
2. Ida Lupino (1918–1995) at Find a Grave
3. Stanley Lupino (1894–1942) at Find a Grave
4. Henry William George Lupino (1892–1959) at Find a Grave