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.

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.

Arthur W. Bloom

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 344
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2019
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7754-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3592-7
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1

Part I: A Biography
One: “The spouting schoolboy” 7
Two: “One continuous struggle” 12
Three: “What a mountain of a man!” 21
Four: “You have sent for me and I have come” 27
Five: Forrest and Bird: The Gladiator, the Peruvian and the Broker 34
Six: The Grand Tour 41
Seven: “If I fail, I fail” 51
Eight: Private Life and New Roles 57
Nine: The Second English Tour 66
Ten: Domestic Life in America 75
Eleven: Forrest Versus Macready 81
Twelve: The Astor Place Riot 87
Thirteen: Not So Private Lives 98
Fourteen: “There is no finality to the law, until they hang a man” 106
Fifteen: “Melodrama is his true field” 114
Sixteen: Touring During the Civil War 120
Seventeen: The “Veteran does not lag superfluous on the stage” 132
Eighteen: “I am busy and do not desire to be disturbed” 141
Nineteen: “Steady me and let me go on” 147

Part II: A Performance History 157
Sources for Performance History 298
Chapter Notes 309
Bibliography 323
Index 327