Salvini, Tommaso

Salvini, Tommaso (1829–1915), Italian actor, who made an international reputation, particularly in the tragic heroes of Shakespeare. He began his career at 14 and five years later made an outstanding success in the title-role of Alfieri's Oreste, playing opposite Ristori. His political activities caused him to leave Italy for a time and on his return he joined Dondini's company, playing Hamlet and Othello. In 1861 he added to his repertory one of his finest modern parts, that of the ex-convict Corrado in Giacometti's La morte civile. His international career began effectively in 1869, when he toured Spain and Portugal; in 1871 he progressed in triumph through the major cities of Latin America, and in 1873 he made his first appearance in the USA, where in 1886 he played the Ghost and Othello to the Hamlet and Iago of Edwin Booth. He was first seen in London in 1875, as Othello at Drury Lane, creating a sensation by depicting the savagery beneath apparent urbanity. His Hamlet inevitably invited comparison with Irving's but was well received. On a visit to Scotland in 1876 he was seen in Macbeth, which he considered Shakespeare's finest play; this was not seen in London until 1884, when he also played Lear to a British audience for the first time. Possessed of a powerful physique, graceful in movement and gesture, and above all equipped with a superbly flexible and musical voice, he studied his roles long and carefully, and his interpretations were rich in imaginative insight.