Edwin Forrest: A Biography and Performance History

by Arthur W. Bloom

Overview

Edwin Forrest was the foremost American actor of the nineteenth century. His advocacy of American, and specifically Jacksonian, themes made him popular in New York's Bowery Theatre. His rivalry with the English tragedian William Charles Macready led to the Astor Place Riot, and his divorce from Catharine Sinclair Forrest was one of the greatest social scandals of the period. This full-length biography examines Forrest's personal life while acknowledging the impossibility of separating it from his public image. Included is a historical chronology of every known performance the actor gave.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476635927
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	05/03/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	344
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late Arthur W. Bloom was a retired professor of theatre and administrator at several public and private American universities. He is the author of biographies of Joseph Jefferson, Edwin Booth, and Edwin Forrest.
The late Arthur W. Bloom was a retired professor of theatre and administrator at several public and private American universities. He is the author of biographies of Joseph Jefferson, Edwin Booth, and Edwin Forrest.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: A Biography
One: “The spouting schoolboy”
Two: “One continuous struggle”
Three: “What a mountain of a man!”
Four: “You have sent for me and I have come”
Five: Forrest and Bird: The Gladiator, the Peruvian and the Broker
Six: The Grand Tour
Seven: “If I fail, I fail”
Eight: Private Life and New Roles
Nine: The Second English Tour
Ten: Domestic Life in America
Eleven: Forrest Versus Macready
Twelve: The Astor Place Riot
Thirteen: Not So Private Lives
Fourteen: “There is no finality to the law, until they hang a man”
Fifteen: “Melodrama is his true field”
Sixteen: Touring During the Civil War
Seventeen: The “Veteran does not lag superfluous on the stage”
Eighteen: “I am busy and do not desire to be disturbed”
Nineteen: “Steady me and let me go on”
Part II: A Performance History
Sources for Performance History
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index