Actor; born in
Philadelphia, Pa., March 9, 1806.
While still a boy he began performing female and juvenile parts, being especially remembered as Young Norval in
Home's play of
Douglas.
His first appearance on the professional stage was on Nov. 27, 1820, at the
Walnut Street Theatre,
Philadelphia, in the title role of
Douglas.
After a long professional tour in the
West, during which he undertook several Shakespearian characters, he filled engagements in
Albany and
Philadelphia, and then appeared as
Othello at the
Park Theatre, New York, in 1826.
He met with remarkable success, owing to his superb form and presence and his natural genius.
Not being satisfied with merely local fame, he played in all the large cities in the
United States.
His chief characters were
Othello,
Macbeth, Hamlet, Richard III.,
Metamora and
Spartacus, the last of which he made exceedingly effective by his immense energy.
In 1835 he went to
England and the Continent, and played with much acceptance, making many warm friends, among them
William C. Macready (q. v.). In 1837 he again visited
Europe and while there married Catharine, a daughter of
John Sinclair, the widely known ballad-singer.
After 1845
Mr. Forrest spent two more years in
England, during which his friendship with
Mr. Macready was broken.
He had acted with great success in
Virginius and other parts, but when he attempted to personate
Macbeth he was hissed by the audience.
This hissing was attributed to professional jealousy on the part of
Macready.
A few weeks after, when
Macready appeared as Hamlet in
Edinburgh,
Forrest hissed him from a box in which he stood.
On May 10, 1849, when
Macready appeared as
Macbeth in the
Astor Place Theatre, in New York, the friends of
Forrest interrupted the performance.
The result was the
Astor Place riot, in which twenty-two men were killed and thirty-six wounded. In 1858
Mr. Forrest announced his retirement from the stage, but appeared at intervals till 1871, when ill-health compelled him to retire permanently.
He was a man of literary culture and accumulated a large library rich in Shakespeariana, which was destroyed by fire on Jan. 15, 1873.
He left his
Philadelphia home and a considerable portion of his large fortune for the establishment of an asylum for aged and indigent actors.
He died in
Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 1872.
