Warren, William the elder

Warren, William the elder (1767–1832), British-born American actor, who made his early appearances in the English provinces, and in 1788 was with Tate Wilkinson, playing in support of Sarah Siddons. In 1796 he was invited by Thomas Wignell to join his company in Philadelphia, and there, except for a number of short visits to New York, he spent the rest of his life. He succeeded Wignell as manager of the Chestnut Street Theatre, in partnership with William Wood, and under them in 1820 Edwin Forrest made his first appearance, playing Young Norval in Home's Douglas. Warren was a fine actor of the old school, among his best parts being Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, Sir Anthony Absolute and Sir Peter Teazle in Sheridan's The Rivals and The School for Scandal, and Old Dornton in Holcroft's The Road to Ruin. He retired in 1829, making a final farewell appearance the year before his death. In 1806 he married as his second wife the actress Mrs Merry, and after her death two years later married the sister-in-law of the first Joseph Jefferson, with whose father Thomas Jefferson he had appeared in England as a young man. There were six children of this marriage, all connected with the stage. The best known was William Warren the younger; his brother became a theatre manager and, by the marriage of his daughter Sarah Isabel, the father-in-law of the third Joseph Jefferson; his four sisters all married actors or theatre managers.