John Hodgkinson (actor)

John Hodgkinson (born John Meadowcroft) (1766 - September 12, 1805) was a well-known actor in the United States in the late 18th and early 19th century. He was born in England and came to the United States in 1792.[1][2] William Dunlap and Hodgkinson managed the John Street Theatre together for a few years in the 1790s.

Biography

Hodgkinson came to the United States to leave his wife, first making inquires to New York theater managers Lewis Hallam Jr. and John Henry for positions for himself and actress Frances Brett, whom he married shortly after arriving in America. He made his American debut at the Southwark Theatre in Philadelphia in 1792, played the role of Belcour in The West Indian.[3]

Hodgkinson was "certainly the finest actor who had appeared in America up to his day."[4] He became the leading performer in America for the next ten years, and in 1800, he and his wife became the highest paid actors in the country ($70 to him a week, and $50 to his wife).[5]

Hodgkinson had a ruthless reputation on the business side, eventually forcing Henry and Hallam out of their theatre management positions.[3]

Frances died of tuberculosis in Philadelphia on September 27, 1803, and was buried at St. John's cemetery in Manhattan next to her sister Arabella. John acted two season in Charleston, South Carolina, and died of yellow fever in Bladensburg, Maryland on September 12, 1805.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Porter, Susan L. John Hodgkinson in England: The Early Life of an American Actor-Singer, American Music, Vol. 6, No. 3, Autumn, 1988
  2. ↑ Winter, William. Famous Actors of the Nineteenth Century, Munsey's Magazine (June 1906)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, p. 312 (3d ed. 2004)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Highfill, Philip H, et al. A Biographical Dictionary of Actors ... Volume 7, p. 351 (1982)
  5. ↑ Harbin, Billy J. Hodgkinson's Last Years: At the Charleston Theatre, 1803–05, Theatre Survey, (November 1972, Vol. 13, Issue 2)

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