biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1829–1905)
|
| biography:
| Actor, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Third in a line of that name, he was part of an old theatre family. Following his debut at age three mimicking Thomas D Rice, singer of ‘Jim Crow’, he had a career that spanned 71 years. He became America's pre-eminent comedian, describing his own profile as ‘pure nutcracker type’. In 1856 he visited Europe, then returned to join Laura Keene's company where he played Dr Pangloss in The Heir-at-Law and Asa Trenchard in Our American Cousin. His greatest success was his own version of Rip Van Winkle, a role he played solely during 1865–80. In fact, there were critics who said that all of his characterizations were identical with his Rip Van Winkle. He succeeded Edwin Booth as president of the Players in 1893. His last performance was in 1904 in Cricket on the Hearth, after which he lectured widely and published his autobiography. Four of his sons continued the family tradition as actors. |
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