Lawrence Barrett
Lawrence Barrett (April 4, 1838 – March 20, 1891) was an American stage actor.
Biography
He was born Lawrence Brannigan to Irish emigrant parents in Paterson, New Jersey. He made his first stage appearance at Detroit as Murad in The French Spy in 1853. In December 1856 he made his first New York appearance at the Chambers Street theatre as "Sir Thomas Clifford" in The Hunchback.
In 1858 he was in the repertory company at the Boston Museum. He served in the American Civil War as captain in Company B of the 28th Massachusetts Infantry regiment. However, he did not see action in any major battles. From 1867 to 1870, with John McCullough, he managed the California theatre, San Francisco.
Among his many and varied parts may be mentioned Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Shylock, Richard III, Wolsey, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Richelieu, David Garrick, Hernani, Alfred Evelyn, Lanciotto in George Henry Bokers (1823–1890) Francesca da Rimini, and Janies Harebell in The Man o' Airlie.
He played Othello to Edwin Booth's Iago and Cassius to his Brutus. He acted in London in 1867, 1882, 1883 and 1884, his "Cardinal Richelieu" portrayal in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's drama being considered his best part. In 1889, he produced the first performance of The Duchess of Padua, retitling it Guido Ferranti and taking on the title role.
He was managed for many years by Robert E. Stevens, the father of actress Emily Stevens and theater director Robert Stevens.[1]
Writings
He wrote a life of Edwin Forrest in the American Actors Series (Boston, 1881), and an admirable sketch of Edwin Booth for Edwin Booth and his Contemporaries (Boston, 1886).
Family
He was the grandfather of stage and screen actress Edith Barrett, the first wife of Vincent Price.
Quotation
"An actor is a sculptor who carves in snow." (Auden & Kronenberger, 1966)
References
- ↑ "Stevens Aids Drive for New Players"; newspaper clipping from October 1926, in the 1924-1927 Scrapbook of the Rochester Community Players, stored in the Local History Depart, Rundel Library of the Rochester NY Public Library
"Barrett, Lawrence". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911
^Auden, W.H.; Kronenberger, Louis (1966), The Viking Book of Aphorisms, New York: Viking Press.
External links
|
Wikisource has original works written by or about: |
- Guide to Lawrence Barrett correspondence at Houghton Library, Harvard University
|