Ira Aldridge
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
– 7 August 1867 Łódź, Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
), was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage actor who made his career largely on the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
stage and in Europe, especially in Shakespearean roles. He is the only actor of African-American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
descent among the 33 actors of the English stage honored with bronze plaques at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
. He was especially popular in Prussia and Russia, where he received top honors from heads of state.
Early life and career
Aldridge was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Reverend Daniel and Luranah Aldridge July 24, 1805. According to Aldridge, his paternal grandfather was a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
of the Fula
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
in Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
.
At age 13, Aldridge went to the African Free School
African Free School
The African Free School was an institution founded by the New York Manumission Society on November 2, 1787. It was founded to provide education to children of slaves and freemen.-History:...
in New York City. His early "education" in theater included viewing plays from the high balcony of the Park Theatre
Park Theatre (Manhattan)
The Park Theatre, originally known as the New Theatre, was a playhouse in New York City, located at 21, 23, and 25 Park Row, about east of Ann Street and backing Theatre Alley. The location, at the north end of the city, overlooked the park that would soon house City Hall...
, New York's leading theater of the time.
Aldridge's first professional acting experience was in the early 1820s with the company associated with the African Grove
African Grove
The African Grove was a theatre founded and operated by free African Americans in New York City in 1821, six years before enslavement of blacks fully ended in New York state The young Ira Aldridge was said to have played at the African Grove...
, an African-American theatre. He debuted as Rolla in Pizzaro. He went on to play Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Romeo
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
and later became a notable Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
.
The British actor and comedian Charles Mathews
Charles Mathews
Charles Mathews was an English theatre manager and comic actor, well-known during his time for his gift of impersonation and skill at table entertainment...
came to the United States on tour in 1822–23. He had developed table entertainment
Table entertainment
Table entertainment was a form of English theatre in the 18th and 19th centuries. A table entertainment was only partly musical in character, and was given by a single performer sitting at a table and telling stories and jokes, giving displays of mimicry, singing songs, and so forth.The first...
s, one-man shows in which he played a variety of parts. From his seeing the African-American actor James Hewlett, he developed a piece which he called "The African Tragedian", which he performed while still in the US. (This became part of his larger work entitled A Trip To America). Mathews was very popular in London, so many people became familiar with his new work after he returned to London. Hewlett wrote a letter to him, which was published, challenging him on his satirical portrayal.
Confronted with the persistent discrimination which black actors endured in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Aldridge emigrated to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where he first worked as a dresser to the British actor Henry Wallack. According to the scholar Shane White, English people had heard of the African Theatre because of Mathews, so Aldridge associated himself with that. Bernth Lindfors says, "[W]hen Aldridge starts appearing on the stage at the Royalty Theatre
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...
, he’s just called a gentleman of color. But when he moves over to the Royal Coburg, he’s advertised in the first playbill as the American Tragedian from the African Theater New York City. The second playbill refers to him as 'The African Tragedian.' So everybody goes to the theater expecting to laugh because this is the man they think Mathews saw in New York City." In his performances, he used his skill to reverse what was expected.
Aldridge performed scenes from Othello that stunned reviewers. One critic wrote, "In Othello (Aldridge) delivers the most difficult passages with a degree of correctness that surprises the beholder." He gradually progressed to larger roles; by 1825, he had top billing at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Coburg Theatre as Oronoko in A Slave's Revenge, soon to be followed by the role of Gambia in The Slave and the title role of Shakespeare's Othello. He also played major roles in plays such as The Castle Spectre and The Padlock
The Padlock
The Padlock is a two-act 'afterpiece' opera by Charles Dibdin. The text was by Isaac Bickerstaffe. It debuted in 1768 at the Drury Lane Theatre in London, England, as a companion piece to The Earl of Warwick. It partnered other plays before a run of six performances in tandem with "The Fatal...
, and played several roles of specifically white characters, including Captain Dirk Hatteraick and Bertram in Rev. R. C. Maturin's Bertram, the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
, and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
.
Touring and later years
In 1831 he successfully played in Dublin; several locations in southern IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, where he created a sensation in the small towns; as well as in Bath, and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland. The actor Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever.-Early life:Kean was born in London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th century composer and playwright Henry Carey...
praised his Othello; some took him to task for taking liberties with the text, while others attacked his race. Since he was an American black actor from the African Theater, the Times called him the "African Roscius". Aldridge used this to his benefit and expanded African references in his biography that appeared in playbills.
Aldridge first toured to continental Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1852, with successes in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where he was presented to the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, performed for Frederick William IV of Prussia
Frederick William IV of Prussia
|align=right|Upon his accession, he toned down the reactionary policies enacted by his father, easing press censorship and promising to enact a constitution at some point, but he refused to enact a popular legislative assembly, preferring to work with the aristocracy through "united committees" of...
, and performed in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. An 1858 tour took him to Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and to Imperial Russia, where he became acquainted with Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, Mikhail Shchepkin
Mikhail Shchepkin
Mikhail Semyonovich Shchepkin was the most famous Russian actor of the 19th century.As his father was a serf, Shchepkin's freedom had to be bought by his admirers in 1821. Three years later, he joined the Maly Theatre in Moscow, which he would dominate for the next 40 years—it became known as the...
and the Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
poet and artist Taras Shevchenko
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...
, who did his portrait in pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....
(left).
Now of an appropriate age, about this time, he played the title role of King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
(in England) for the first time. He purchased some property in England, toured Russia again (1862), and applied for British citizenship (1863).
Marriage and family
Soon after going to England, in 1824 Aldridge married Margaret GillMargaret Gill
Margaret Gill was born in Yorkshire, England, and was the first wife of American black actor Ira Frederick Aldridge. She married Aldridge in 1825. The couple's inter-racial marriage caused great anger from the pro-slavery lobby. She died in 1864. They had no children. After her death Aldridge...
, an English woman. They were married for 40 years before her death in 1864.
A year after Margaret's death, on April 20, 1865, Aldridge married his mistress, the self-styled Swedish countess Amanda von Brandt
Amanda Von Brandt
Amanda von Brandt claimed to be Swedish countess and was the second wife of actor Ira Frederick Aldridge, whom she married on 20 April 1865. The couple had four children. Their eldest child was born during Aldridge's marriage to his first wife, Margaret Gill, and their youngest was born four...
, with whom he already had a son, Ira Daniel. They had four more children: Irene Luranah, Ira Frederick and Amanda
Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge
Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge , , was a British opera singer, teacher and composer, under the pseudonym of Montague Ring.-Life:...
Aldridge all went on to musical careers, the two girls as opera singers. Their daughter Rachael was born shortly after Aldridge's death and died in infancy.
Aldridge spent most of his final years with his family in Russia and continental Europe, interspersed with occasional visits to England. He planned to return to the post-Civil-War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
United States, but he died in August 1867 while visiting Łódź, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
His remains were buried in the city's Evangelical Cemetery; 23 years passed before a proper tombstone was erected. His grave is tended by the Society of Polish Artists of Film and Theatre.
A half-length portrait of 1826 by James Northcote
James Northcote
James Northcote RA , was an English painter.-Biography:He was born at Plymouth, and was apprenticed to his father, a poor watchmaker. In his spare time, he drew and painted. In 1769 he left his father and set up as a portrait painter. Four years later he went to London and was admitted as a pupil...
of Aldridge dressed for the role of Othello, but in a relatively undramatic portrait pose, is on display at the Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery is a publicly-owned art gallery in Manchester, England. It was formerly known as Manchester City Art Gallery.The gallery was opened in 1824 and today occupies three buildings, the oldest of which - designed by Sir Charles Barry - is Grade I listed and was originally home to...
(in the Manchester section); Aldridge performed in the city many times.
Children
- Ira Daniel Aldridge, 1847 – ?. Teacher. Migrated to AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1867. - Irene Luranah Pauline Aldridge, 1860–1932. Opera singer.
- Ira Frederick Olaff Aldridge, 1862 – ?. Musician and composer.
- Amanda Christina Elizabeth AldridgeAmanda Christina Elizabeth AldridgeAmanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge , , was a British opera singer, teacher and composer, under the pseudonym of Montague Ring.-Life:...
(Amanda Ira Aldridge), 1866–1956. Opera singer, teacher and composer under name of Montague Ring. - Rachael Margaret Frederika Aldridge, 1867, died in infancy.
Legacy and honors
- He received awards for his art from European heads of state and governments: the Prussian Gold Medal for Arts and Sciences from King Frederick William III, the Golden Cross of Leopold from the Czar of Russia, and the Maltese CrossMaltese crossThe Maltese cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta and through them came to be identified with the Mediterranean island of Malta and is one of the National symbols of Malta...
from Berne, Switzerland. - Aldridge is the only African-American to have a bronze plaque among the 33 actors honored at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
. - In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Ira Aldridge on his 100 Greatest African Americans100 Greatest African Americans100 Greatest African Americans is a biographical dictionary of the one hundred historically greatest African Americans , as assessed by Molefi Kete Asante in 2002.-Criteria:...
.
Further reading
- Ira Aldridge 1807-1867. The Great Shakespearean Tragedian on the Bicentennial Anniversary of His Birth, Krystyna Kujawinska Courtney and Maria Lukowska (eds). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2009
- Krystyna Kujawinska Courtney, Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) (Dzieje pierwszego czarnoskorego tragika szekspirowskiego), Kraków: Universitas, 2009
- Bernth Lindfors, "Aldridge in Europe", Shakespeare in American Life, Folger Shakespeare Library's public radio documentary
- Herbert Marshall, Further Research on Ira Aldridge, the Negro Tragedian, FRSA, Center for Soviet & East European Studies, Southern Illinois University
- Herbert Marshall Collection of Ira Aldridge, Collection 139, SCRC: Theatre, material which Marshall collected for his biography of Aldridge
- Rzepka, Charles. Introduction: "Obi, Aldridge and Abolition", Romantic Circles Praxis Series.
- Shane White, Stories of Freedom in Black New York, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003
- Shane White, "Shutting Down the Grove Theatre", Shakespeare in American Life, Folger Shakespeare Library's public radio documentary
- The Black Doctor, Black Drama Database, subscription only
- Bernth Lindfors, Ira Aldridge: The Early Years, 1807-1833 and The Vagabond Years, 1833-1852 , Rochester, NY: Rochester University Press, 2011 ISBN 9781580464017
External links
- Ira Aldridge: The African Roscius, ed. Bernth Lindfors, University of Rochester Press, Rochester, NY, 2007
- Alridge Collection, Northwestern University Library
- George F. Bragg, "Biography of Ira Aldridge", Men of Maryland
- "Ira Aldridge, Shakespeare and Minstrelsy", Goliath