Edward Askew Sothern
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Edward Askew Sothern (April 1, 1826–January 21, 1881), English actor known for his comic roles.
Sothern was born in Liverpool, the son of a merchant. He began acting as an amateur, and in 1849 drifted into a professional engagement with a dramatic company at Saint Helier in Jersey, where he appeared as Claude Melnotte in Bulwer Lytton's Lady of Lyons. Between then and 1858 he played in various companies without particular success, in Birmingham and in America, where he went in 1852.
On May 12, 1858 Tom Taylor's Our American Cousin, a play of no special merit, was brought out in New York, with Sothern in the small part of Lord Dundreary, a caricature of an English nobleman. Legend has it that Sothern was at first reluctant to take this role; it was such a small and unimportant part that he felt it beneath him and feared it might damage his reputation. He mentioned his qualms in conversation with his friend, Joseph Jefferson, who had been cast in the leading role of "Asa Trenchard" in the same production. Jefferson responded with what has become one of the most-quoted lines in theatre history: "There are no small parts, only small actors." Sothern took the role and gradually worked up the humour of this part so that it became the central figure of the play. In 1861, when it was produced at the Haymarket Theatre, in London, he made such a hit that the piece ran for nearly five hundred nights. "Dundreary whiskers", "Piccadilly Weepers" or "Dundrearies", the long sideburns he wore as the character, became the fashion, and Dundreary became a popular recurring character.
At various times Sothern revived the character, which retained its popularity in spite of all the extravagances to which he developed its amusing features; and his name will always be famous in connexion with this role. In TW Robertson's David Garrick (1864) he again had a great success, his acting in the title-part, which he created, being wonderfully effective. He won wide popularity also from his interpretation of Sam Slingsby in Oxenford's Brother Sam (1865).
Sothern was a born comedian, and off the stage had a passion for practical joking that amounted almost to a mania. When the husband of actress Adelaide Neilson, Philip Henry Lee visited New York in the mid 1800's, he had been warned about the wild behaviour of American authors but gathered that it was a joke. Sothern assured him it was true and arranged a private dinner for Lee with twelve "writers and critics" (who were really actors). During the dinner an altercation arose over the passing of the mustard with a fight breaking out, the men brandished both knives and revolvers. The room was filled with shouts, shots, and struggle. Someone thrust a knife into Lee's hand, saying, "Defend yourself! This is butchery, sheer butchery." Sothern advised him to "Keep cool, and don't get shot." The performance ended with Lee hidden behind a door as the real police burst in because of all the commotion.
Sothern's house in Kensington was a resort for people of fashion, and he was as much a favourite in America as in the United Kingdom. He died in London on the 21st of January 1881.
Sothern had three sons, all actors, the second of them, Edward Hugh Sothern (b. 1859), being prominent on the American stage.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
