Burton, William E(vans)

Burton, William E[vans] (1804–60), comic actor and manager. The English‐born comedian had given up a career in publishing and turned to performing only a few years before coming to America in 1834. Making his debut at Philadelphia's Arch Street Theatre as Dr. Ollapod in The Poor Gentleman, he was immediately recognized for his comic talents. Burton made his first New York appearance in 1837, but maintained Philadelphia as his base for several years, acting and running theatres there. In 1848 in New York he turned Palmo's decaying opera house into Burton's Chambers Street Theatre, where he presented seasons mainly of old comedies, burlesques, and dramatizations of popular novels. His first season included two of his most famous portrayals: Captain Cuttle in Dombey and Son and Timothy Toodle in The Toodles. Typical of his range were other hits of that season, from the burlesque Lucy Did Sham Amour to a mounting of Milton's Comus. In 1849 Burton offered another celebrated interpretation, that of Aminadab Sleek in The Serious Family. Over the years he also presented several Shakespearean revivals that were deemed among the best of the era. For all his excellences, Burton found himself unable to compete after Wallack's great ensemble began performing in 1852. He relinquished his theatre at the end of the 1855–56 season, and while he continued to produce and act at other theatres, he never again enjoyed the success of his brief heyday. Joseph Jefferson recalled, “Burton's features were strong and heavy, and his figure was portly and ungainly.” Of his acting Jefferson noted, not unkindly, “Burton colored highly, and laid on the effect with a liberal brush.” Biography: William E. Burton, Actor, Author, Manager, William Linn Keese, 1885.