Edward Eddy

Eddy, Edward (1822–75), actor. Long the leading star at the popular‐priced Bowery Theatre, the manly, handsome, stentorian‐voiced performer was born in Troy, New York, and first appeared in public at a New York recital in 1839. He then toured for several seasons before making his New York debut in 1846 as Othello at the New Greenwich Theatre. In the same season Eddy offered his Claude Melnotte in The Lady of Lyons, Clifford in The Hunchback, and the title part in The Stranger, all of which were to be favorite interpretations in his later Bowery years, which began with his Richelieu in 1851. Highlights at the Bowery include Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo and his Richard III. His emotive, scene‐chewing style of acting led to his being called “robustious Eddy.” Throughout these years he continued to essay a wide range of parts, even participating in the dog dramas that were briefly the rage, but, whether he wore out his welcome or playgoers became more sophisticated, he eventually lost popularity. He later drifted among a number of lesser theatres before leaving to set up a theatrical troupe in the West Indies, where he died in poverty.