Forrest, Edwin (1806–72), actor. Generally acknowledged as the first grand tragedian of the American stage, Forrest was born in Philadelphia to the impoverished, runaway son of a Scottish squire and the daughter of middle‐class German immigrants. His theatrical debut came about by accident in 1817 when the manager of the Southwark Theatre, noting his attractiveness, asked him to substitute for an ailing actress in the small role of the odalisque Rosina in Rudolph; or, The Robber of Calabria. The experience thrilled him, and though he had little formal education he studied elocution and organized a Thespian Club. His real debut was as Norval in Douglas at the Walnut Street Theatre in 1820. He then spent the next several seasons touring what was called the Western circuit (western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky) before performing in New Orleans. During this time he first performed many of the roles for which he would become famous, including Damon in Damon and Pythias, Jaffier in Venice Preserved, Tell in William Tell, and the Indian chief in She Would Be a Soldier. His New York debut was as Othello in 1826 at the Park Theatre, and he repeated his performance at the Bowery Theatre. Both playhouses were to figure importantly in his career. What critics and playgoers saw was a dark‐haired, sardonically handsome man of noticeably muscular build (he always favored roles that allowed him to display his arms and legs) who stood five feet ten inches tall and had a deep, stentorian voice, which he sometimes employed with a crude vigor. Implicit in his appearance and acting were the seeds of class differences that would beset his career. From the start Forrest's appeal was to the mass of playgoers, the more genteel members of the audience often balking at what they perceived as his sometimes vulgar display of physique and his unlettered readings. In 1828 he offered prizes for new American plays, preferably on American themes. First prize went to John Augustus Stone for Metamora, which was soon one of Forrest's most popular vehicles. Other winners included Richard Penn Smith's Caius Marius; three plays by Robert Montgomery Bird: The Gladiator, Oralloossa, and The Broker of Bogota; and Robert T. Conrad's Jack Cade. The well‐intentioned contest also added to the actor's increasingly questionable personal reputation, for he was accused of not paying money owed to several of the playwrights. Forrest then added a number of major roles to his repertory, including the title parts of King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Virginius. His career may be said to have peaked in the late 1840s, after which two incidents further tarnished his reputation. In 1849 his rivalry with the English actor William Macready came to a head in the bloody Astor Place Riots, in which Forrest almost certainly had a hand. In 1851 he and his wife were divorced after each had noisily (and probably accurately) accused the other of infidelity. Thereafter, his popularity began to wane, although he still retained a large and vocal following, especially in the upper reaches of theatres. But increasing age, a sameness in repertory, as well as new faces and newer styles of performing also militated against the actor. Loss of favor embittered Forrest, but he continued to play until shortly before his death. William Winter called Forrest a “vast animal, bewildered by a grain of genius,” who was personally an “utterly selfish” man. But while he was reluctant to “canonize” Forrest, Winter concluded, “As an actor Forrest, at his best, was remarkable for iron repose, perfect precision of method, immense physical force, capacity for leonine banter, fiery ferocity and occasional felicity of elocution.” Biography: Edwin Forrest: First Star of the American Stage, Richard Moody, 1960.

Edwin Forrest

The actor Edwin Forrest (1806-1872) was the first great American-born tragedian. Heroic in technique, he was acclaimed by the popular audience but often scorned by the cultured. His career had important social and political implications.

Edwin Forrest, the fifth child of a destitute Philadelphia family, left school when he was 10. At 14 he gained his first professional role. Though his talent was immediately apparent, there was no place for him on eastern stages, so he joined companies that played in the West and South. Returning to the prestigious theaters of the East in 1825, he was inspired and praised by Edmund Kean, the English actor, and made a great success acting Othello. At the age of 21 Forrest was a star, playing all the important Shakespearean roles. He was the only American actor who could challenge the English domination of the stage.

Forrest offered prizes for original American plays, especially with parts he might play. Metamora (1828), The Gladiator (1831), and The Broker of Bogota (1834) were the most successful. Forrest became wealthy, partly from these roles, but he paid the authors no royalties beyond the original prize.

While touring England in 1837, Forrest met and married Catherine Sinclair. He also met William Macready, the English actor who competed with Forrest for preeminence.

Forrest's technique, like his temperament, was heroic and physical rather than subtle. As an actor, he embodied all the robust, uninhibited majesty that Americans saw in themselves as a nation. His voice could make the pits tremble; his eloquence was marvelous for the large theaters of the time; and his furious realism, especially in scenes of combat, terrified his stage opponents. William Winter later said he was a "vast animal bewildered by a grain of genius." Forrest's heroic pose and strong nationalism were not lost upon the popular audience, which felt a traditional cultural inferiority to England.

In 1849 the long-standing competition between Forrest and Macready exploded into riot. Forrest insisted that Macready had insulted him; Forrest's followers insisted that the Englishman had insulted America. Macready versus Forrest became a struggle of England against America, rich against poor, the elite against the common. A mob stormed the Astor Place Theater in New York City, where Macready was playing; and the militia in quelling the riot killed at least 22 persons. Forrest's reputation was tarnished by the tragedy.

That same year Forrest accused his wife of adultery; the long and sordid litigation came to the divorce court in 1851. Though Catherine was vindicated, America had its first actor's divorce scandal, and Forrest's Othello was more popular than ever.

Forrest soon retired. Though he returned to the stage in 1860, his grandiloquent, strenuous style of acting was passing from favor. Some critics still insist, however, that he was the greatest actor America has ever produced.

Further Reading

William R. Alger, Life of Edwin Forrest, the American Tragedian (1877), is the standard biography. Lawrence Barrett, Edwin Forrest (1881), is an account by an actor. For a negative view of Forrest as "always the slave of his ignorance" see William Winter, The Wallet of Time, vol. 1 (1913). Lloyd R. Morris, Curtain Time (1953), gives an excellent brief evaluation of Forrest. □

Edwin Forrest 1806–72, American actor, b. Philadelphia. He was the first national idol of the American theater. He appeared at 14 as Young Norval in John Home's Douglas and gained experience supporting Edmund Kean in Shakespearean roles. His New York debut (1826) as Othello established Forrest as one of the century's great tragedians. His acting was bold and forceful, and he was often criticized for ranting. In England in 1845, his Macbeth was received with hostility by those who favored William Charles Macready . Their rivalry brought about the Astor Place riot (1849) in New York, in which partisans of Forrest demonstrated against Macready and many were killed. Throughout his career Forrest championed native dramas and performers.

Bibliography: See biographies by R. Moody (1960) and W. R. Alger (1877, repr. 1972); The Astor Place Riot (1958) by R. A. Moody.

Forrest, Edwin (1806–72), tragedian noted for Shakespearean roles and for performances in Bird's Metamora, The Gladiator, and The Broker of Bogota. Owing to his failure to reimburse Bird fully, the two friends quarreled, and Forrest's unfortunate jealousy was again exhibited in his treatment of his English rival, Macready, leading to the Astor Place riot (1849). Forrest's fear of rivalry caused him to forbid the publication of plays written for him, so that they exist either in manuscript or in modern scholarly editions.