Forrest, Edwin

Forrest, Edwin (1806–72), American tragedian, who at 14 played Young Norval in Home's Douglas at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, his birthplace. His early years were overshadowed by poverty and thwarted ambition, but in the end he became the acknowledged head of his profession in the USA for nearly 30 years. Even then the defects of his character made him as many enemies as friends, though no one denied the power of his acting. In his early years he was much criticized for ‘ranting’; this he later cured to some extent, and was then outstanding as Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, and in two parts especially written for him: Spartacus in Bird's The Gladiator (1831) and the title-role in Stone's Metamora (1829). Among his other parts were Jaffier in Otway's Venice Preserv'd, Rolla in Sheridan's Pizarro, and the title-role in Knowles's Virginius. He appeared in London in 1836 with some success, but in 1845 met with a hostile reception which he attributed to the machinations of Macready. Their quarrel led eventually to a riot at the Astor Place Opera House in New York in 1849. This caused Forrest to be ostracized by more sober members of the community, but he was the idol of the masses, who looked on him as their champion against the tyranny of the British. From 1865 his career declined and he died lonely and unhappy; he gave his last performance at the Globe Theatre, Boston, in 1872 in Bulwer-Lytton's Richelieu.