Delane, Dennis (c.1707–1750), actor, was probably the eldest son of George Delane (d. 1720), a Dublin glazier with an interest in lands in Co. Roscommon, whose widow Joan and three daughters were living in 1737. He was admitted to TCD on 16 May 1723, aged 16. According to some accounts it was intended that he should make his career at the bar, but in 1729 he made his stage debut at the Smock Alley theatre in Dublin under the sponsorship of the actor-manager Thomas Elrington (qv). He quickly developed a repertoire of major roles, principally in tragedies; in 1731 he made his London debut, at Goodman's Fields, where he enjoyed immediate success. He remained there until 1735, when he moved to Covent Garden. In 1741 he moved again, to Drury Lane, before returning to Covent Garden in 1748, remaining there until his death.
In 1735 he was a founding member of the Beef Steak Society, a celebrated convivial club of actors and their friends. He never established a permanent residence in London, moving through a series of lodgings. Throughout the 1730s he was a regular visitor to Ireland during the summer months, playing with the Smock Alley and Aungier St. companies on tour outside Dublin; his visits in the 1740s were less frequent.
He attracted positive critical notice from about 1740; his appearance and, in particular, the quality of his voice are praised in most accounts of his acting. He also played more comic parts during the 1740s, though tragic roles still predominated. He became a friend of David Garrick but, when a spirit of competition developed between the two, he was forced to yield before the English actor, who was then rising to a position of dominance on the London stage. Eventually relations between the two broke down and Garrick began to mimic him on stage to amuse audiences. This was said to have affected him deeply, though doubt has been cast on the claim that Garrick's behaviour, by aggravating a propensity towards drink, hastened his death.
He inherited lands in Co. Galway and Co. Roscommon. A dispute arose in 1729 between him and a first cousin, also called Dennis Delane (and who had also been a student at TCD), over ownership of the lands in the latter county. Their respective claims were heard in the Irish courts, where the actor won his case; his cousin appealed to the British house of lords, where the Irish judgment was affirmed and the actor's costs awarded in March 1737.
He married (November 1745) Margaretta Horsington ( fl. 1732–50), an actress and dancer; they had one daughter who died young. His last stage appearance was on 17 March 1750, and he died in London around the end of that month. His wife, who retired from the stage in 1747, inherited his estates. One of Delane's sisters married an English actor, Robert Wetherilt (1708–43), who performed several times in Ireland in the late 1730s. As ‘Mrs Wetherilt’ (her first name is unknown) she appears to have acted in London in 1734 and in Dublin's Smock Alley Theatre between 1736 and 1743, and to have retired after her husband's death.
Alumni Dublinenses lists both a Denis [sic] Delane (probably the actor) and a Dennis Delany (probably – on age and other grounds – his cousin). The painter Solomon Delane (qv) and Dr Patrick Delany (qv) may have been related to them; ‘Delane’ and ‘Delany’ seem to have been interchangeable forms.