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American Theater Guide:

James William Wallack

Wallack, James William (1794–1864), actor and manager. The younger brother of Henry Wallack, he was slated for the navy but chose to continue his family's acting tradition. He had played opposite Edmund Kean and other leading figures before making his American debut at the Park Theatre in 1818 as Macbeth, followed by his Rolla, Coriolanus, Romeo, Hamlet, and Richard III. For the next thirty‐three years he shuttled between America and England, often appearing at Philadelphia's Arch Street Theatre and New York's National Theatre, which he managed for a time. It was at the latter that he offered the premiere of Tortesa, the Usurer (1839). George Odell has written that during these seasons, “Wallack really first showed New York what was meant by perfect stage‐management, with an eye to every detail, however slight.” He settled permanently in New York in 1851 and the following year opened his theatre and organized the company that was a leading American ensemble for the next thirty‐five years, first under him, then under his son Lester Wallack. Although his repertory covered a full range of classic and modern, tragic and comic, his forte was comedy. With rare exceptions, he ignored native works, preferring the safety of English and Continental writing. Wallack retired from acting in 1859 but continued to operate his theatre (including a new one built in 1861) until shortly before his death. His contemporary, James H. Hackett, described him thus: “His figure and bearing . . . were very distingué; his eye was sparkling; his hair dark, curly, and luxuriant; his facial features finely chiselled; and, together with the natural conformation of his head, throat, and chest, Mr. Wallack presented a remarkable specimen of manly beauty.” Biography: A Sketch of the Life of James William Wallack, Anonymous, 1865.

 
 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: James William Wallack

(born Aug. 24, 1795, London, Eng. — died Dec. 25, 1864, New York, N.Y., U.S.) British-U.S. actor-manager. Born into a London stage family, he acted in Shakespearean roles from age 12 and made his U.S. debut as Macbeth in 1818. He performed in London and New York City until 1852, crossing the Atlantic 35 times. In 1837 – 39 he comanaged New York's National Theatre with his brother Henry John Wallack (1790 – 1870), the company's leading player. In 1852 – 62 he comanaged the Lyceum Theatre (renamed Wallack's Lyceum) with his son Lester (1820 – 88) as stage manager. Succeeding his father as general manager, Lester staged polished productions of English plays and trained most of the major 19th-century U.S. stage performers.

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Columbia Encyclopedia: Wallack, James William
(wŏl'ək) , c.1795–1864, Anglo-American actor and manager. Of a theatrical family, he was a leading actor (1812–32) in both comedy and melodrama at Drury Lane. After 1852 he lived in the United States. In New York City he managed Wallack's National (1837–39), Wallack's Lyceum (1852), and Wallack's (1861), where he maintained one of the best theatrical companies in New York. His son, Lester Wallack (John Johnstone Wallack), 1820–88, also an actor-manager, gained experience in Dublin and London and made his New York debut in 1847. He was best in comic and romantic roles. Lester succeeded to the management of Wallack's in 1861; in 1882 he simultaneously operated another Wallack's at Broadway and 30th St. He wrote, produced, and played in a variety of dramas, but his best production was his own play Rosedale (1863).

Bibliography

See his Memoirs of Fifty Years (1889).

 
Wikipedia: James William Wallack

James William Wallack (c. 17941864) was an Anglo-American actor and manager, born in London.

He was of a theatrical family, his parents being actors. He made his first stage appearance at Drury Lane in 1807. After three years in Dublin, he was again at Drury Lane until he went to the United States in 1818, appearing as Macbeth at the Park Theatre, New York. He settled permanently in New York City in 1852. The first Wallack's theatre was an old one, renamed, at the corner of Broome Street and Broadway. The second, at 13th Street and Broadway, he built himself. His son opened the third and last Wallack's Theatre in 1882.

Wallack was an actor of the old school. Thackeray praised his performance as Shylock, and Joseph Jefferson his Don Caesar de Bazan. He married the daughter of John Henry Johnstone (1749-1828), a popular tenor and stage Irishman; she died in 1851. Their son, John Lester Wallack was also a famous actor.

Literature

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.


 
 

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American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "James William Wallack" Read more

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