Barrett, Wilson

Barrett, Wilson (1846–1904), English actormanager, who had few equals in the melodramatic plays fashionable in his time, being strikingly handsome and having a resonant voice, though not tall. His finest parts were Wilfred Denver in Henry Arthur Jones and Herman's The Silver King, which he produced in 1882, and Marcus Superbus in his own play The Sign of the Cross. This melodramatic story of a Roman patrician in love with a beautiful young Christian convert, with whom he goes into the arena to face the lions, was first produced in the USA in 1895, when Barrett was on tour and badly in need of money. It brought him a fortune. It was first seen in England at the Grand Theatre in Leeds later in 1895 and in London a year later, when it created a sensation. It was several times revived and perennially successful on tour. Barrett was less successful in Shakespearian roles, only his Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet being thought passable. He had a brother and nephew in his company, and his grandson was also on the stage.