J. M. Barrie created Peter and Wendy, also referred to as Peter Pan, as a 1904 play and a 1911 book. Both versions depict Peter Pan as a cheeky youngster with the ability to fly who has numerous adventures on the mythical island of Neverland, home to mermaids, fairies, "Indians" (American-Indians), pirates, and other fantastical creatures. The characters Wendy Darling and her brothers John and Michael, Tinker Bell, Peter's fairy, the Lost Boys, and Captain Hook also appear in the Peter Pan stories. Barrie's acquaintance with the Llewelyn Davies family served as the basis for both the play and the book. After the play's initial performance, Barrie continued to make revisions until the play's script was published in 1928. The play's world premiere took place at the Duke of York's Theatre in London on December 27, 1904, with Nina Boucicault, the playwright's daughter, playing the main character. In 1905, a Broadway show starring Maude Adams was presented. Later, it was brought back with actors like Marilyn Miller and Eva Le Gallienne. Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Charles Scribner's Sons in the US both released the book for the first time in 1911.
Scottish author Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, is most known for creating Peter Pan. He was also a playwright. He was raised and educated in Scotland before relocating to London, where he penned a number of well-received books and plays. There, he met the Llewelyn Davies brothers, who later served as the inspiration for his works Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a 1904 West End "fairy play," about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland. The story of a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens was first included in Barrie's 1902 adult novel The Little White Bird. Despite his ongoing success as a writer, Peter Pan eclipsed all of his earlier works and is credited with making the name Wendy well-known. After the deaths of the Davies boys' parents, Barrie adopted them clandestinely. George V created Barrie a baronet on June 14, 1913, and in the New Year's Honours of 1922, he was inducted into the Order of Merit.
