Edwin 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 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.