This drawing of the actor-manager John Hare (1844-1921), born John Fairs in Yorkshire, was reproduced in The Bystander on 22 March 1905. It would have been commissioned by the magazine and was probably executed after a photograph of Hare.

Hare was considered one of the finest character actors of his day, particularly excelling as old men. He made his first stage appearance at Liverpool in 1864, coming to London in 1865, and acting for ten years with the Bancrofts at the Prince of Wales Theatre. He managed the Court Theatre in 1875, but established his popularity working with the Kendals at the St. James's Theatre from 1879 to 1888. In 1889 he became lessee and manager of the Garrick theatre where he produced several important plays, including Pinero's The Profligate and The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith, and had a remarkable success in Sydney Grundy's A Pair of Spectacles. In 1897 he became lessee of the Globe Theatre where his acting in Pinero's Gay Lord Quex was another personal triumph. He became almost as well known in the United States as in England, his last tour in America being in 1900 and 1901. He was knighted in 1907 and retired in 1912, nevertheless appearing in two films a few years later.