Lawrence Barrett

Barrett, Lawrence [Patrick] (1838–91), actor. The self‐educated son of a poor tailor, he was born in Paterson, New Jersey, but raised in Detroit where he made his debut in 1853 as Murad in The French Spy. Three years later he made his New York bow at the Chambers Street Theatre playing Sir Thomas Clifford in The Hunchback. After having performed with Edwin Booth on several occasions and comanaging San Francisco's California Theatre, Barrett won fame in New York as the mad poet James Harebell in The Man o' Airlie (1871). In 1875 his Cassius earned him additional laurels and he also met with personal success touring during the 1877–78 season in two works by William Dean Howells, as the mistrusted painter Bartlett in A Counterfeit Presentment and the tragic jester in Yorick's Love. For many, however, his crowning achievement came in 1883 when he revived Francesca da Rimini. William Winter called the actor's Lanciotto a performance of “terrible beauty.” Much of Barrett's later career was with Booth in several important Shakespearean revivals, including Julius Caesar, Othello (in which the men alternated as hero or villain), and The Merchant of Venice. His last performance, which he was unable to finish, was as de Mauprat opposite Booth's famous Richelieu. The same sense of history that prompted him to revive neglected works may have induced him to become a theatrical historian as well. Among his writings are Edwin Forrest (1881) and Edwin Booth and His Contemporaries (1886). Most scholars agree with Odell, who called Barrett “our most farsighted and ambitious, if not our greatest tragedian,” citing his willingness to go beyond the standard repertory and the excellent taste of his acting and mountings. “His features,” Otis Skinner recalled, “were attractive; a good nose, wide mobile mouth, deep‐set and burning eyes, and a broad and thoughtful forehead. It might have been the face of a monk.” Biography: Lawrence Barrett, A Professional Sketch, Elwyn A. Barron, 1889.

Lawrence Barrett, 1887

Lawrence Barrett (April 4, 1838 – March 20, 1891) was an American stage actor.

Biography

He was born Lawrence Brannigan to Irish emigrant parents in Paterson, New Jersey. He made his first stage appearance at Detroit as Murad in The French Spy in 1853. In December 1856 he made his first New York appearance at the Chambers Street theatre as "Sir Thomas Clifford" in The Hunchback.

In 1858 he was in the repertory company at the Boston Museum. He served in the American Civil War as captain in Company B of the 28th Massachusetts Infantry regiment. However, he did not see action in any major battles. From 1867 to 1870, with John McCullough, he managed the California theatre, San Francisco.

Among his many and varied parts may be mentioned Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Shylock, Richard III, Wolsey, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Richelieu, David Garrick, Hernani, Alfred Evelyn, Lanciotto in George Henry Bokers (1823-1890) Francesca da Rimini, and Janies Harebell in The Man o' Airlie.

He played Othello to Edwin Booth's Iago and Cassius to his Brutus. He acted in London in 1867, 1882, 1883 and 1884, his "Cardinal Richelieu" portrayal in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's drama being considered his best part. He wrote a life of Edwin Forrest in the American Actors Series (Boston, 1881), and an admirable sketch of Edwin Booth in Edwin Booth and his Contemporaries (Boston, 1886).

References

•  "Barrett, Lawrence". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

Persondata
NAME	Barrett, Lawrence
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American stage actor
DATE OF BIRTH	April 4, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paterson, New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH	March 20, 1891
PLACE OF DEATH

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