Thorne, Charles R(obert)

Thorne, Charles R[obert] (1814?–93), actor and manager. The son of a New York merchant, he made his debut at the Park Theatre in 1829 and continued to perform for fifty years. He was also active in management, on various occasions running not only the Chatham Garden and National Theatre in New York and the Baldwin Theatre in San Francisco, but touring with his wife, Ann Maria Mestayer Thorne (d. 1881), and his company through South and Central America. For a time he managed a troupe that performed along the Erie Canal. His son was Charles R[obert] THORNE JR. (1840–83), who began performing while still a child in his parents' company. On reaching maturity his good looks and dashing personality prompted producers to cast him in revivals in such roles as the detective Hawkshaw in The Ticket‐of‐Leave Man (1873), Armand in Camille (1875), and Raphael in The Marble Heart (1877). Among the parts he created on the American stage were the tight‐lipped, virtuous Chevalier de Vaudrey in The Two Orphans (1874) and John Strebelow in The Banker's Daughter (1880). The illness that led to his death forced him to retire while still much in demand.