Actors and Actresses

Actors and Actresses: Introduction Actors and Actresses: Index

Actors and Actresses: Introduction

This index includes the names of each actor and actress. Wherever possible the editors have attempted to provide a full entry--title (Miss, Mrs., Rev., etc.), first name, middle initial, and surname. The title "Mr." is never used, but foreign equivalents and the word "Master" are employed throughout. If a person acted as boy and man, he is listed as both--Master Napier Barry and Napier Barry. The abbreviation "Mons." is employed for French actors instead of "M." (which the computer would mistake for an initial).

Wherever possible, editors have amplified names found in the bills. In the calendar itself, though not in the index, interpolated information is bracketed. Entries are seldom complete, especially in the first half of the century. It is a rare treat to find an initial, let alone a first name, on a bill. If additional information does appear, this is generally restricted to main performers unless it is a way to differentiate siblings (Miss A. Conway, Miss E. Conway), or actors with the same surname (J. F. Smith, O. Smith). Many obscure performers appeared, frequently for one season only, and it has often proven impossible to supply more information than that contained in the bill or program.

Since each contributing editor is responsible only for the names in his or her segment, the general editors took it upon themselves to make one final pass through the complete index. One of their goals was to eliminate duplication wherever possible. For example, Miss Boham (1818), Miss Boheim (1820), and Miss Bohen (1819, 1821) were considered to be the same person. The name, Miss Bohen, was selected as the "correct" spelling and the phrase "variously spelled" entered after the name. Some names were spelled differently over the seasons, apparently by the actors' choice--"Leclercq", for example, appears in several forms. In such instances, the editor has made a judgment--that, for instance, Chichini and Chekini are the same individual, and the former spelling is correct. (In rare instances, the note "variously spelled" is not followed by a date. Such entries refer to performers appearing only in the "Musicians, Singers, Dancers" index.)

Other names have been expanded by the general editors. "Miss S. Booth" becomes "Miss S[arah] Booth." In other instances, amplification was deemed useful even though doubtful. Miss Barnett, who played from 1827 to 1835, might be Miss Millie Barnett. In each season where Miss Barnett played, the entry Miss [Millie?] Barnett appears in the calendar. (The reader should note that to avoid unnecessary clutter, brackets do not appear in the index, but parenthetical conjectures do. When first names appear on the bills, middle initials supplied by editors are not put in square brackets. All such manipulations of the index are solely the responsibility of the general editors. If errors occur, they are not the fault of the contributing editors.

While the goal is to provide the maximum information in as straightforward a manner as possible, all scholars of the period have to face facts--the bills are often tantalizingly cryptic. It is very frustrating to find entries such as Miss Heffer, Miss E. Heffer, Miss Emma Heffer, and Miss Emily Heffer. Is Miss E. Heffer Emily or Emma? Is she someone quite different? Is Emma a mistake for Emily? Is Miss Heffer any of them? Are there three men called Sanders or are J. Sanders, John Sanders, and Sanders one or two people? Is it conceivable all three appeared in the 1855 season? Is Saunders a different person, or does this spelling reflect nothing more than a printer's error? We cannot be sure, especially where minor figures are concerned, so we have been conservative in our choices. Other calendars would, of course, help enormously--a minor figure at one theatre may be a major one at another.

Actresses are even more difficult to identify than their male counterparts. The custom, until well into the second half of the century was to bill females as "Miss" or "Mrs."--omitting first names. Miss Scott, for example, did not use her given names, appearing in almost all bills simply as "Miss Scott." This entry has been expanded to Miss [Jane M.] Scott. Similarly Miss Woolgar's name has been entered as Miss [Sarah J.] Woolgar.

Some actresses married during the course of their careers. If they then chose to be billed under their husband's surname, the entry is expanded to include his first names, if known. If not, their own given names precede the husband's last name. Maiden and married names have been cross-indexed only if an actress played under both at the Sans Pareil or the Adelphi. The entry

appears in the index, as does

To give the reader all possible assistance in identifying an individual, every relevant name is given. For example, maiden and real names are added in parentheses, even though actors never performed under them at the Adelphi.

Whenever the editors have found it impossible to decide the marital status of a female actress, the designation "M?" has been employed.

Because first names were rarely used, players with the same surname and no first names have to be treated as though they were one individual. One actor called Jones performed in 1809 and another in 1870. Obviously several actors with this, the most common of Welsh surnames, have been collected together because there is no way to differentiate them. Users will occasionally come across a surname followed by a number--Jones(2), for example. This numeral means although no first names have been discovered, the editors are reasonably certain they are dealing with more than one performer in the same season.

By far the most useful book in helping editors locate and check names is J. Peter Wearing's American and British Theatrical Biography (Metuchen, N. J.: Scarecrow Press, 1979). Many names were close to those in the calendar, but editors were told to resist temptation for fear of adding to the confusion that surrounds so much of nineteenth-century theatre studies.

The London Times usually gives the names of leading actors in the main piece. Unfortunately they are not often matched with roles. Sometimes it has been necessary to draw conclusions where no other source is available.

No invented names, common in pantomimes, have been knowingly entered in this index, and no animal performers, even those billed by name, are included.

Actors and Actresses: Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P