Уильям Фаррен: Англиялық актер өмірі мен сахналық жолы

the actor
English actor (1796–1861)

William Farren (13 May 1786 – 24 September 1861) was an English actor, who was the son of the actor of the same name (born 1754), who played leading roles from 1784 to 1795 at Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.

Raised on Gower Street in London, he was raised in comparative affluence, supported not only by his father's wealth but also by a large gift from surgeon Percival Pott. He attended school in Soho and may have apprenticed as an attorney in Wolverhampton; by 1806, however, he had joined his brother Percy's troupe in Plymouth. His first appearance on the stage was at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth in Charles Macklin's Love à la mode. From the beginning he specialized in comic old men and Irish parts. A decade of provincial apprenticeship followed in southern England and in Dublin (where he married); his first roles included Adam Contest in Elizabeth Inchbald's The Wedding Day and Lovegold in Henry Fielding's translation of Molière's The Miser; however, his name is associated with a wide variety of roles. He played at Covent Garden every winter until 1828, and began in 1824 a series of summer engagements at the Haymarket which also lasted some years. He next joined Benjamin Webster at the Haymarket as stage manager as well as actor. Now nearly sixty, he succeeded in two notable old men roles by Mark Lemon: the title characters in Grandfather Whitehead and Old Parr. His performance as Thomas Parr was praised by The Times as a breakthrough in English acting. He was performing in that role in 1843 when he suffered an on stage stroke. He was, however, able to reappear the following year, and he remained at the Haymarket ten years more, though his acting never again reached its former level; Edward Dutton Cook recalls an 1851 performance in which Farren, though "acting admirably", did not utter a single intelligible word. For a time he managed the Strand, and between 1850 and 1853, was lessee of the Olympic. During his later years he confined himself to parts portraying old men, in which he was unrivalled. In 1855 he made his final appearance at the Haymarket, as Lord Ogleby in a scene from the Clandestine Marriage. With Faucit, he left two sons, Henry (1826–1860) and William (1825–1908), both actors. The former was the father of Nellie Farren, long famous for boy's parts in Gaiety musical burlesques, in the days of Edward Terry and Fred Leslie. As Jack Sheppard, and in similar roles, she had a unique position at the Gaiety, and was an unrivalled public favourite. In 1892 her health failed, and her retirement, coupled with Fred Leslie's death, brought to an end the type of Gaiety burlesque associated with them.

In the types of characters he favored, "crusty old bachelors, jealous old husbands, stormy fathers, worrying uncles, or ancient fops with ghastly pretensions to amiability" (as Lewes described them), he was among the most highly regarded actors of his time. His performances were known for their polish and subtlety; in more sentimental roles, such as Old Parr, he was able to mix sentiment with cool irony. He was at home in Augustan and other eighteenth century roles, but he is not remembered as a Shakespearian actor. Macready remembered him as justly famous for "studious correctness", but described him as second to William Dowton and Joseph Munden in "the rich quality of humor." William Hazlitt praised the conservatism of his style in the older plays. Leigh Hunt disagreed, disparaging Farren in favor of Dowton as Anthony Absolute (Sheridan's The Rivals). Even Hunt, though, acknowledged Farren's exceptional self possession. Writing in The Times in 1855, Henry Morley called Farren "one of the most finished actors by whom the stage has been adorned in the present century." Writing after the actor's death, John Westland Marston recalls that the actor excelled in portraying "the vanity, the self love, the inconsistency, and now and then the redeeming good feeling of worldly, well bred people, and occasionally the credulous faith of simple, guileless people."