Novelli, Ermete

Novelli, Ermete (1851–1919), Italian actor, who made his first appearance at the age of 18 and though not at first well received became one of the outstanding actors of the Italian stage. A large man, weighing some 18 stone, he was nevertheless light on his feet and quick in action, with fine, expressive features and a mobile countenance. At first he played exclusively in comedy, but it was finally in tragedy that he made his reputation, and he toured extensively in such Shakespearian parts as Othello, Lear, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, and Hamlet. In the last-named he is said to have played the death-scene with brutal realism—indeed, from contemporary accounts his acting appears to have been exceedingly forceful and melodramatic—and in the scene with the Ghost he seemed to impart to the audience the certainty of a visitation from another world. Another part in which he excelled was the title-role in a translation of Aicard's Le Père Lebonnard, a play first seen at Antoine's Théâtre-Libre. In 1900 Novelli attempted to found a permanent theatre in Rome, La Casa di Goldoni, but the enterprise failed through lack of public support and had to be abandoned.