William Abbot (actor)
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox person William Abbot or Abbott (12 June 1790 – 1 June 1843) was an English actor, and a theatrical manager, both in England and the United States.<ref name="ODNB">Template:Cite ODNB</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>
Life
[edit]Abbot was born in Chelsea just outside London, and made his first appearance on the stage at Bath in 1806, and his first London appearance in 1808, at the Haymarket Theatre, in a benefit performance.<ref name="ODNB"/> There he appeared as Frederick in an 1809 production of Lovers' Vows.<ref name=":0" /> At the Covent Garden Theatre in 1813, in light comedy and melodrama, he made his first definite success.<ref name="ODNB"/> He was Pylades to William Charles Macready's Orestes in Ambrose Philips's Distressed Mother when Macready made his first appearance there, in 1816. He created the parts of Appius Claudius in Sheridan Knowles's Virginius (1820) and of Modus in his The Hunchback (1832).Template:Sfn
In 1827 Abbot organized the company, including Harriet Smithson, which acted Shakespeare in Paris. His position was as stage manager; he performed at the Salle Favart, but not to plaudits.<ref name="ODNB"/> On his return to London he played Romeo to Fanny Kemble's Juliet (1830). Two of Abbot's melodramas, The Youthful Days of Frederick the Great (1817) and Swedish Patriotism (1819), were produced at Covent Garden.Template:Sfn
Abbot also worked in America, where he first appeared as "Mr. Beverly" in an 1832 production of The Gamester at the Park Theatre in New York.<ref name=":0" /> Later he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he created the New Charleston Theatre and operated it from 1837 through 1841. This theatre brought stars like Ellen Tree to the company there, but did not enjoy major success.<ref name="ODNB"/>
William Abbot probably died in New York on 7 June 1843,<ref name="ODNB"/><ref name=":0" /> although some sources say that he died in Baltimore, Maryland.Template:Sfn He had married an actress, Elizabeth Bradshaw née Buloid.<ref name="ODNB"/>
Selected roles
[edit]- Ehterington in Debtor and Creditor by James Kenney (1814)
- Albert in Adelaide by Richard Sheil (1816)
- Prince Royal in The Youthful Days of Frederick the Great by William Abbot (1817)
- Young Bowerscort in A Word to the Ladies by James Kenney (1818)
- Hafiz in Retribution by John Dillon (1818)
- King of Naples in Evadne by Richard Sheil (1819)
- Captain Albert in Swedish Patriotism by William Abbot (1819)
- Appius Claudius in Virginius by James Sheridan Knowles (1820)
- Montieth in Wallace by Charles Edward Walker (1820)
- Varney in Kenilworth by Alfred Bunn (1821)
- Dionysius in Damon and Pythias by John Banim and Richard Sheil (1821)
- Count D'Alba in Julian by Mary Russell Mitford (1823)
- Modus in The Hunchback by James Sheridan Knowles (1832)
- Clement Marot in Francis the First by Fanny Kemble (1832)
- Lorenzo in The Wife by James Sheridan Knowles (1833)
- Charles I in Charles the First by Mary Russell Mitford (1834)
References
[edit]- Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume 1607–1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1963.
Attribution
- 1790 births
- 1843 deaths
- 19th-century English businesspeople
- Businesspeople from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
- English emigrants to the United States
- English male stage actors
- 19th-century English male actors
- English theatre managers and producers
- 19th-century British theatre managers
- Male actors from London
- People from Chelsea, London
- Actors from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea