E.H.H. Sothern

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Sothern, Edward Hugh (1859–1933), one of three actor-sons of Edward Askew Sothern, who inherited much of his father's charm and talent. Educated in England, he intended to become a painter but took to the stage, becoming in 1904 Daniel Frohman's leading man at the Lyceum Theatre in New York and remaining there until 1907. A light comedian and an excellent romantic hero in such popular plays as Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda and Justin McCarthy's If I Were King, he later formed his own company for the production of plays by Shakespeare with his second wife Julia Marlowe, whom he married in 1911 and took with him on his return to England after an absence of 25 years. Their joint appearances in such plays as Romeo and Juliet were very well received. On Julia's retirement in 1924, after an accident, she and Sothern presented the scenery, costumes, and properties for 10 of his Shakespeare productions to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. He continued to act intermittently until 1927 and devoted much of his later years to public readings and lectures. A small but dignified man, with a handsome, sensitive face, he was the ideal romantic hero of the late 19th century, and although by hard work he achieved some success in tragedy he was at his best in high comedy, his curious combination of gifts making him an excellent Malvolio in Twelfth Night. He also revived on several occasions his father's old part of Lord Dundreary in Tom Taylor's Our American Cousin.