THE LIFE AND ART OF EDWIN BOOTH AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES EDWIN BOOTH As Hamlet. &/fti <7^F?^sr<) jf^jQe^L^ fl&^rrsyb^^ *< Stye Hife atti Art of IHtomt Imrtlf and I|t3 (Entttemjrorarips wtsW* 19 By Brander Matthews and Laurence Hutton J* Yf/jt&n ifUusttratefc ^^^@^<?^s^>^^^^^^ L C PAGE- 8 COMPANY ""w^W/ BOSTON j» PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1886 By O. M. Dunham All rights reserved Fifth Impression, June, 1907 COLONIAL PRESS Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds &* Co. Boston, U.S.A. CONTENTS PAGE Miss Mary Anderson . William L. Keese • I Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft William Archer , . 19 Mr. Lawrence Barrett William M. Laffan . 37 Mr. Edwin Booth. Lawrence Barrett . 55 Mr. and Mrs. Dion Boucicault Benjamin Ellis Martin 77 Mr. J. S. Clarke . Edw, Hamilton Bell . 95 Mr. and Mrs. Florence Laurence Hutton . 113 Mr. Henry Irving J. Ranken Towse . 131 Mr. Joseph Jefferson . H C. Bunner . .153 Mr. and Mrs. Kendal . William Archer . .175 Mme. Modjeska . Jeannette Leonard Gilder 193 Miss Clara Morris Clinton Stuart . .211 Mr. John T. Raymond. George H. Jessop . .229 Miss Ellen Terry Geo. Edgar Montgomery 247 Mr. J. L. Toole . Walter Hen ies Pollock 265 Mr. Lester Wallack . William Winter . .283 Index • • . 301 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Edwin Booth as Hamlet .... Frontispiece Mary Anderson as Galatea in " Pygmalion and Galatea" . 14 " " Lawrence Barrett as Cassius in Julius Caesar . 39 Edwin Booth 57 Dion Boucicault 79 Agnes R. Boucicault 86 W. J. Florence 115 Mrs. W. J. Florence 126 Henry Irving 133 Henry Irving as Mathias in "The Bells" . 136 Joseph Jefferson as Bob Acres in "The Rivals". 158 Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Kendal 177 Clara Morris . 213 Ellen Terry as Henrietta Maria in "Charles I." 249 Lester Wallack as the Prince of Wales in " Henry IV." 285 MISS MARY ANDERSON. ! Beautiful lady from a far-off land, In whose fair form rejoicingly we trace The loveliest features of a kindred race That bids thee welcome with an outstretched hand, Which lingers lovingly in clasped embrace, Until our deep emotions, in flushed face, Thou mayest read, and reading understand Our passionate love of purity and grace ; Springing spontaneous from thy generous heart We pray Heaven guard thee in thy noble art, Where art is lost ; — made so to intertwine With purest nature, as to form a part Of thine own being — as entirely thine That but one word expresseth it — it is Divine ! Francis Bennoch. MISS MARY ANDERSON. Since the death of Charlotte Cushman, the American stage has waited for an actress whose aspiration and endeavor might foreshadow an imperial rule. Women have appeared during the last ten years who have distinguished themselves in certain parts and won renown in the portrayal and expression of certain emotions ; but therein were equally revealed their powers and their limitations. The manifold attributes of mind and character, developed by serious purpose into a noble harmony, have not been clearly exhibited on our stage by any actress of recent years. To say this does not lessen the fame of any artist now before the public ; the assertion plucks no laurel from any deserving brow. I have said that actresses have become famous through certain impersonations, and I am well aware that not without thought and study were the portraits conceived and executed. But I do not regard the emotional expert as entitled to come under the head of Richelieu's phrase of " entirely great." Because a certain actress, for instance, has been exceptionally effective as Camille, it does not fol- low, I think, that equal identification would attend a new assumption. Would not a change of part rather be something of the nature of a fresh experiment ?—not the assured donning of a becoming mantle. As a rule, it is the opportunity for effective realism that appeals 3 ; 4 MISS MAR Y ANDERSON. to the dramatic specialist, and just so far as the realistic possibilities of any given part accord with the ambition, temperament, and unique personality of the player, so far will be the measure of the success. It is noticeable that the performances of the specialist afford few, if any, felicitous contrasts. The acting is likely to be on the same plane of thought, feeling, and expression, and it compels interest and admiration by a sustained physical and emotional strain. I may be asked if the oculist and surgeon are not important adjuncts to the medical profession ? I answer, they are, of course ; but then we never expect to be blind nor to have a limb taken off, however frequently we know we may need the doctor. The achievements of the actress whose name heads this paper demand a consideration far beyond my present limits ; but I think no consideration is needed to say that she has kindled a greater hope and gives a brighter promise than any American actress since the death of Charlotte Cushman. Perhaps she it is for whom the stage has been waiting. Something in her early aspiration; in the manner of her first ap- pearance ; in the steps by which she has advanced in her patient yet energetic acquirement of the details of her art ; in her devotion to high ideals ; in her refined taste and nobleness of spirit ; in her pains- taking zeal ; in her endowment of intelligence and beauty ; in her self-respecting nature ; —something in all these seems to point to a bright fulfilment of the present hope and promise. Miss Mary Anderson was born on July 28, 1859. Her birthplace was Sacramento, California, but she was still an infant when her parents moved to Ken- MISS MARY ANDERSON. 5 tucky. The record of her early years is full of interest for those who study the careers of women of genius ; and it may be noted that she was wayward and restless under school and domestic restraint. Her nature was truthful, her disposition such as to make her a favorite wherever known, and she seems to have been the idol of her playmates. It is con- fessed that her school-learning was of small account, and her conduct under tuition often refractory. It was on leaving school, at the age of thirteen, that she began to study ; but her book was Shakspere, and the poet opened the gates of dream-land to her, as he has to so many others, before and since. We are told that the poet was an education to her, and that her intellectual development was rapid. The male characters of Shakspere interested her most at this time ; she studied with ardor the parts of Hamlet, Romeo, and Richard III. ; and while thus engaged she also employed herself in cultivating her voice. Her passion for the stage seems to have been inborn, and her first visit to the theatre was an event which held the seal of destiny. In her fourteenth year she saw Edwin Booth in Richard III., and the per- formance, as may well be imagined, was a revelation to her. Later she visited Miss Cushman, and received from that great actress an encouraging opinion of her powers, accompanied with the advice to place herself in study and training for another year before making an appearance in public. This advice was followed. For dramatic instructor the late Mr. Vandenhoff was selected, and he gave her ten lessons, which is said to have been her only professional training. Her first appearance was made at Macauley's Theatre, Louis- 6 MISS MARY ANDERSON. ville, on Nov. 27, 1875, m tne character of Juliet, the play-bill reading " by a Louisville Young Lady." It is on record that competent judges regarded this first performance as indicating great natural talent. From that time to the present Miss Anderson has steadily pursued her professional path, not without a share of the vicissitudes and disappointments that beset a theatrical career, and her progress has been watched with more than ordinary interest by the American theatre-going public. Her first regular engagement was at the Louisville Theatre, in the January following her debut, and in the course of it she played Evadne, Bianca, Julia, and Juliet. This engagement was succeeded by her appearance in St. Louis, New Orleans, Washington, and San Francisco. A New York audience welcomed her for the first time on Nov. 12, 1877, when she appeared at the Fifth Avenue Theatre as Pauline, in the * Lady of Lyons.' She successively played Juliet, Evadne, Meg Merrilies and Parthenia. She made a first visit to Europe in 1878 (not a profes- sional one), returning the same year, and playing again at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in a round of her chosen parts. It is not needful to chronicle here the professional engagements of Miss Anderson from year to year. Let it suffice that she has played in all the principal cities of the Union, and in 1883 made a second visit to Europe, this time professionally, where she re- mained until the autumn of 1885, adding largely to her dramatic laurels by her performances in the United Kingdom, and winning great popular esteem by her personal worth. In August of 1885 she played MISS MARY ANDERSON. 7 RosalincUhcr first appearance in that character) at Stratford-on-Avon, for the benefit of the Shakspere Memorial Theatre, and the proceeds of this perform- ance may be seen in the beautiful sculptured emblems of Comedy and Tragedy which now adorn the front of ' the Memorial Hall where As You Like It ' was acted. On Miss Anderson's return to her native land she began the season of 1885-6 with Rosalind, at the Star Theatre in New York.