Payne, John Howard

Payne, John Howard (1791–1852), born in New York City, showed a precocious interest in the drama, publishing the Thespian Mirror(1805–6), a theatrical review that attracted the attention of New York literary and theatrical figures, who encouraged him in the writing of Julia; or, The Wanderer (1806), a melodrama; the publication of another paper, The Pastime (1807–8); and his debut as an actor. After the production of Lovers' Vows (1809), adapted from Kotzebue, and further acting, a reaction set in against the tremendous acclaim that had greeted him as a prodigy. Friends then collected a fund to send him to England to restablish his fame and fortune. Although received fairly well upon his arrival (1813), he was forced to turn to theatrical hackwork, from which he was rescued by Kean's successful production of his blank‐verse tragedy Brutus; or, The Fall of Tarquin (1818). This triumph led him to produce his own melodramas but so unsuccessfully that he was sent to jail for debts. From Paris, whence he fled to escape duns, he sent plays to London for production, including Clari; or, The Maid of Milan (1823), set as an opera by Sir Henry Bishop and remembered for the heroine's song Home, Sweet Home. Back in London he collaborated with Irving on Charles the Second (1824), Richelieu (1826), and five other plays. Returning to the U.S. (1832), he was honored as an eminent writer and rewarded with appointment as consul at Tunis (1842–45, 1851–52), where he died, in debt but working on great literary and dramatic plans.