Wilkinson, Tate

The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

Wilkinson, Tate (1739–1803), English actor and provincial theatre manager, a man of good family whose passion for the theatre led him to adopt the stage as a profession. He was recommended to Garrick who engaged him for Drury Lane, where his imitations of contemporary players were much admired, particularly by Samuel Foote, who took him to Dublin where he was a great success. He was less well received, however, in London on his return, and eventually went into the provinces. There he took over the York circuit, which included Hull and Leeds, and ran it for about 30 years with marked success, many actors and actresses, among them Mrs Jordan, John Philip Kemble, and the elder Charles Mathews, gaining their first experience under him. As he grew older he became very eccentric, and Foote, after a violent but short-lived quarrel, satirized him as Shift in The Minor (1760). In spite of his many foibles he was much loved and respected and did a great deal to keep the theatre alive in provincial towns in the North of England.

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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Wilkinson, Tate." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Wilkinson, Tate." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-WilkinsonTate.html

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