Scribner's Magazine, Volume 26, October 1899Various
History
Scribner's Magazine, Volume 26, October 1899
Various
American periodicals
Mr. Hamblin was a splendid-looking man and a very good actor. I don't
think he could ever have been called "great." He had a long career as
manager of the Bowery Theatre, and brought out several female stars.
Miss Naomi Vincent was a very sweet actress, who died in her youth;
Miss Josephine Clifton, "divinely fair and more than divinely tall,"
she being five feet eleven inches high. She was a very beautiful
woman, but never arrived at any distinction as an actress. She died
young. Mr. Hamblin finally married Mrs. Shaw, a once beautiful woman,
bearing a strong resemblance to Mrs. Siddons's portraits. She was an
excellent tragedienne, and died in middle age, closing life as Mrs.
Judge Phillips.
Mr. Cooper was a very handsome man (the remains of one, when I saw
him), eminently gentlemanlike in appearance. In the company of the old
Chestnut Street Theatre at this epoch was a young actor, Mr. George
Barrett, called generally "Gentleman George." He was a juvenile actor
of great local repute in Philadelphia, and moved among all the young
swells of that day. He was to play _Laertes_ in "Hamlet" with Cooper,
who arrived from Baltimore too late for rehearsal; so George went to his
dressing-room in order to ascertain the arrangement of the fencing-match
in the last scene. Mr. Cooper was morose, and said, "Go to the prompter,
sir, and find out!" When the fencing began, Barrett would not let Cooper
disarm him, and the audience could see this fact and became excited.
Finally Barrett, with sword down, stood quietly to be run through by
Cooper. When the curtain fell Cooper started up in a towering passion,
and exclaimed to Barrett, "What did you mean by your conduct, sir?"
Drawing himself up to his full height, six feet two inches, Barrett
replied, "Go to the prompter, sir, and find out!"
[Illustration: Charlotte Cushman[I] as _Romeo_.
From a photograph by Case & Getchell, Boston. In the collection of
Peter Gilsey, Esq.]
[Illustration: Thomas Apthorpe Cooper.[J]
From an engraving by Edwin. In the collection of Peter Gilsey, Esq.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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