Lawrence Barrett

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Barrett, Lawrence [Patrick] (1838–91), actor. The self‐educated son of a poor tailor, he was born in Paterson, New Jersey, but raised in Detroit where he made his debut in 1853 as Murad in The French Spy. Three years later he made his New York bow at the Chambers Street Theatre playing Sir Thomas Clifford in The Hunchback. After having performed with Edwin Booth on several occasions and comanaging San Francisco's California Theatre, Barrett won fame in New York as the mad poet James Harebell in The Man o' Airlie (1871). In 1875 his Cassius earned him additional laurels and he also met with personal success touring during the 1877–78 season in two works by William Dean Howells, as the mistrusted painter Bartlett in A Counterfeit Presentment and the tragic jester in Yorick's Love. For many, however, his crowning achievement came in 1883 when he revived Francesca da Rimini. William Winter called the actor's Lanciotto a performance of “terrible beauty.” Much of Barrett's later career was with Booth in several important Shakespearean revivals, including Julius Caesar, Othello (in which the men alternated as hero or villain), and The Merchant of Venice. His last performance, which he was unable to finish, was as de Mauprat opposite Booth's famous Richelieu. The same sense of history that prompted him to revive neglected works may have induced him to become a theatrical historian as well. Among his writings are Edwin Forrest (1881) and Edwin Booth and His Contemporaries (1886). Most scholars agree with Odell, who called Barrett “our most farsighted and ambitious, if not our greatest tragedian,” citing his willingness to go beyond the standard repertory and the excellent taste of his acting and mountings. “His features,” Otis Skinner recalled, “were attractive; a good nose, wide mobile mouth, deep‐set and burning eyes, and a broad and thoughtful forehead. It might have been the face of a monk.” Biography: Lawrence Barrett, A Professional Sketch, Elwyn A. Barron, 1889.

Lawrence Barrett , 1838–91, American actor, b. Paterson, N.J. An excellent romantic actor, he is best remembered for his portrayal of Cassius to the Brutus of Edwin Booth. Barrett made his New York debut (1856) in The Hunchback and appeared (1858–59) with the Boston Museum Company. He was associated with Booth from 1866 to 1889. A dignified actor, tall, with classic features, Barrett excelled in Shakespeare. He wrote a biography of Edwin Forrest (1881).