1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Hello and Happy Saturday. Shakespearean actor Irah Frederick Aldridge came 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 1: up a couple of times in our recent episode on 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: our Turo Alfonso Schaumberg. As I was writing that episode, 4 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: I thought our episode on I Frederick Aldridge is so recent, 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: everyone will surely remember it. Uh turns out though that 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: episode came out more than four years ago. This happens 7 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: to me all the time. But the important thing is 8 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: that we're bringing that episode out. Is today's Saturday classic, 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: so enjoy. Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, 10 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to 11 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. 12 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,279 Speaker 1: Today we have someone I first learned about from the 13 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: people of Color in European art history Tumbler also known 14 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: as medieval poc. It is Irah Frederick Aldridge. He was 15 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,679 Speaker 1: a Shakespearean actor in the eighteen hundreds, and you might 16 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: even call him the first famous American Shakespearean actor, although 17 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: there was another American named Edwin Forrest who was popular 18 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: in both the United States and Britain at about the 19 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: same time. There is actual debate over which of them 20 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: should be called the first famous American Shakespearean actor, which 21 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: amuses me. But to return to the story, uh Aldredge 22 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: has largely been excluded from biographies of Shakespearean actors and 23 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: from histories of the theaters where he performed and the like. 24 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: In some cases there were even like histories of the 25 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: theater written in in France, for example, that were then 26 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: translated into English, and in the English language versions from 27 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: you know, the late nineteenth early twentieth century just kind 28 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: of excluded from the translated version. He's a little hard 29 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: to and information about. There not that many books about him. 30 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: But he was one of the first Americans to achieve 31 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:08,800 Speaker 1: fame as a Shakespearean actor, as we said, and he 32 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: was definitely the first black man to really do so. 33 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: He had. There were a couple of other black actors 34 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: performing Shakespeare at about the same time, but none of 35 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: them got nearly the international renown that he did. He 36 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: became a really famous figure on the Victorian Shakespeare stage. 37 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: And there is some haziness about Aldridge's parents in his 38 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: early life, and part of it is thanks to the 39 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: holes and records and documentation that come up pretty often 40 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: on our show, especially the farther back you go. But 41 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: Complicating that was a heavily romanticized story of his ancestry 42 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: that floated around as part of the publicity for his 43 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: acting career, and that kind of nebulous version was also 44 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: picked up by biographers. The most basic version of this 45 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: story was just that Aldridge was from Senegal and descended 46 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: from royalty there. An African prince newly arrived from Senegal 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: would have been at the time somewhat more acceptable to 48 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:11,079 Speaker 1: white theater audiences than an American black man descended from slaves, 49 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: So it's possible that, however this story came to be, 50 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: it was motivated at least in part by appeasing the 51 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: white theater crowds sensibilities, logically probably also just as a 52 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,799 Speaker 1: publicity move, But at least one biographer went so far 53 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: as to detail a whole saga of IRA's father, whose 54 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: named Daniel, being brought to the United States by a 55 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: missionary to be educated and to flee a conspiracy playing 56 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: out among the Senegalese nobility. And in this story, Daniel 57 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: Aldridge married while he was in the States and then 58 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: returned to Senegal with his wife after the danger had passed, 59 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: and that would be just before IRA's birth. As this 60 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: is told, this is a very very dramatic story. It's 61 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: probably also just a story, although it's really unclear at 62 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: this point exactly when Aldred's ancestors were brought to North 63 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: America or how they ultimately came to be free people 64 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: living in New York. Daniel Aldrig's birthplace was either New 65 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: York or Baltimore. His death certificate says New York, and 66 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: his obituary says Baltimore. Yeah, We've had a few of 67 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: those where like different documents say completely different things. Uh, 68 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: And at that point, all you can kind of do 69 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: is shrug. Ira himself was born in New York on 70 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: July eighteen oh seven. He had several siblings, but only 71 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: one older brother, Joshua, survived. Their mother, Laurna, was either 72 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: from North Carolina or Delaware, depending on which record you're 73 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: looking at, and she died in eighteen seventeen, when Ira 74 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: was ten and Joshua was approximately twelve. Although New York 75 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: had passed a gradual Emancipation Act in seventeen ninety nine, 76 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,359 Speaker 1: many enslaved people born before that year weren't freed until 77 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty seven, and census records reported that about seventy five. 78 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: Enslaved people were still living in New York in eighteen thirty, 79 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: so while Ira and his family were free, there were 80 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,159 Speaker 1: also enslaved people as well as people who were working 81 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: out in dentures that were required by the Gradual Emancipation 82 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: Act living in New York City at the same time, 83 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: and in addition to this stratification in terms of freedom 84 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: for the black community, public facilities were segregated, including the 85 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: schools and the theaters that Ira would attend as a 86 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: young man. Iris early education was at the African Free School, 87 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: which had been founded by the New York Manumission Society. 88 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,119 Speaker 1: The African Free School was open to children up until 89 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,840 Speaker 1: the age of fifteen, but it seems as though Ira 90 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,559 Speaker 1: stayed until he was fifteen or possibly sixteen, perhaps because 91 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: he had enrolled when he was already a young teenager. 92 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: In about eighteen twenty, William Alexander Brown, who had previously 93 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: worked as a steward on a ship that sailed from 94 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: New York to Liverpool, opened a theater. This was the 95 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:02,919 Speaker 1: African Groves, sometimes just called Brown's Theater or the African Theater. 96 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: In this theater, which was in Manhattan's West Side, he 97 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: was building on the success of an ice cream garden 98 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,479 Speaker 1: he had previously opened, and this ice cream garden serves 99 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: tea and ice cream and also functioned as a performance space. 100 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: It was one of the very very few such venues 101 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: in the city that was open to black patrons, and 102 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: it was one of a string of Brown's social and 103 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: performing arts venues that he opened over the years. At first, 104 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: the coverage of the African Grove Theater from the white 105 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: press was largely negative and dismissive, but eventually it grew 106 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: so popular that it had to designate a section for 107 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: white audience members. It was certainly not the only New 108 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: York theater that was run by and for its black residents, 109 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: but it was the most ambitious and successful. In addition 110 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: to other works, its stage adaptations of Shakespeare, and one 111 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: of its star performers was a man named James Hewlett. 112 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,359 Speaker 1: So when Aldridge most likely both watched from the audience 113 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: and of untually acted alongside. In eighteen or eighteen two, 114 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: Ira and Joshua Brown both landed roles at the theater. 115 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: Ira would have been fifteen or sixteen at that point, 116 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: but their father was not a fan of this idea. 117 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: He pulled them out of the show, possibly because he 118 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: wanted them to become ministers instead of actors, but Ira 119 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: would not be deterred. At the age of about seventeen, 120 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: he started trying to build a career as a professional 121 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: actor full time, and this was a difficult time to 122 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: be a black actor, both in New York specifically and 123 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: in the United States in general. The African Grove burned 124 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: down under mysterious circumstances about three years after its opening, 125 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: and that had followed a general theater closure during a 126 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: yellow fever outbreak, and even before that, the African Grove 127 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: had been the target of complaints from white neighbors about 128 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: noise and crowds, as well as sabotage attempts from a 129 00:07:55,320 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: rival theater company. It strikes me as so star change 130 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: that there were theater rivalries, including sabotage outside of New York. 131 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: Opportunities for black entertainers, which had not been all that 132 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: numerous in the first place, were really dwindling. In the 133 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: early mid eighteen hundreds, menstrel shows performed by white actors 134 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: and black face, often in a way that offensively lampooned 135 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: and caricatured black characters, were becoming more and more popular. 136 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 1: The stock character Jim Crow became part of menstrel shows 137 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: by eighteen twenty eight, and the name Jim Crow would 138 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 1: be used as a racist slur. Within a decade, menstrel 139 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: shows performed by white people in black face started crowding 140 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: out opportunities for black performers, sometimes while simultaneously copying those 141 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: performers original work. With all of this going on, not 142 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: long after his decision to become a professional actor, Aldridge 143 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: also decided that he would do so in Europe and 144 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: not in the United States. According to a pamphlet about 145 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: Aldred which was published during his lifetime, one of his 146 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: former classmates quote was in the habit of taking Mr 147 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: Henry Wallack's dresses to the Chatham Theater. Henry Wallack and 148 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: his brother James were both British actors who had become 149 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: a staple in New York's white theaters. At this point, 150 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: the theater scene in New York was thriving so much 151 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: that a lot of British actors are being drawn to 152 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: New York to perform there, much to the chagrin of 153 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: the theaters, especially in London. This was the case with 154 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 1: the Wallack brothers. So Ira Aldridge renewed his acquaintance with 155 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,840 Speaker 1: this former classmate who had been delivering the costumes to 156 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: the theater for the Wallacks, and through his friend he 157 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: got an introduction to the two men. Both of them 158 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: took an interest in Aldridge in his career, and even 159 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 1: though his acting opportunities had been limited at this point, 160 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: he seemed to have already shown some clear talent. Henry 161 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: wrote him a letter of introduction, and Jane, possibly by coincidence, 162 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:06,080 Speaker 1: booked passage on the same ship to Liverpool that Aldridge 163 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: had secured employment on. He was going to work as 164 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: a steward, basically to get across the Atlantic Ocean into 165 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: England once they were on board, though James requested Aldred 166 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 1: does his personal assistant. And Aldridge got to Liverpool in 167 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty four, and in a year he would make 168 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:25,719 Speaker 1: his debut with top Billing. And we're going to talk 169 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: about that, but first we are going to pause for 170 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: a moment and uh talk about one of the sponsors 171 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: that keeps the show going. In the fall of eighteen 172 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: twenty five, Irah Frederick Aldridge made his London debut, starring 173 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: in West Indian and African melodramas at the Royal Cobrag 174 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: Theater under the pseudonym Mr. Keene. He would have a 175 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: variety of pseudonyms, especially early in his career, and at 176 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: this point he was only eighteen, and we don't really 177 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: know the story of how Aldridge went from a new 178 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: arrival in London to securing top billing in his debut performance, 179 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: albeit at one of London's minor theaters. It's likely that 180 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: Henry Wallack's letter of introduction really helped, as well as 181 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: the novelty of having a black actor on the stage. 182 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:19,439 Speaker 1: Aldridge was, we should be clear, certainly not the first 183 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,720 Speaker 1: actor of color in Britain, but there weren't that many 184 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: before this point. Audiences seemed to love him in these 185 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: first performances at the Coburg. Newspaper reports uh talk about 186 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: really long and loud applause for his performances and audiences 187 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: who just seemed enraptured with him. Some of the reviews 188 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: were positive, but a lot of them, though, were frankly 189 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:46,319 Speaker 1: just hostile. They painted a caricatured picture of his appearance, 190 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: exaggerating his facial features and his skin color, and in 191 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: one case claimed that the shape of his lips made 192 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: it impossible for him to pronounce proper English if you 193 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 1: read like the His biographies lacked a lot of these, 194 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,319 Speaker 1: and if you read them, they are terrible. While performing 195 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: at the cobourg Aldridge met the woman that he would 196 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,079 Speaker 1: soon marry, Margaret gil who was from a laboring family. 197 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: Similarly to the story that Aldridge was really descended from 198 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: African royalty, Margaret was often presented as the daughter of 199 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 1: a Member of Parliament, and while the faux history of 200 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: Aldridge's parentage made him more appealing to the audience, the 201 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 1: idea that she was the daughter of an MP gave 202 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: Margaret a little more social protection than she had as 203 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:35,679 Speaker 1: the daughter of a poor family. Soon after his engagement 204 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,520 Speaker 1: at the Coburg ended, Aldridge and his new wife moved 205 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: on to Brighton, and then they went on a tour 206 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,719 Speaker 1: through the UK's provinces. He took on both comedic and 207 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,600 Speaker 1: dramatic roles, and since he could sing, he performed in 208 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: variety shows. Most of his roles were those of black characters, 209 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: who at that point had typically been played by white 210 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: actors in black face. Some of his most common roles 211 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: were Othello, which is probably the most obvious at the time, 212 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:07,199 Speaker 1: and another was Orinoco in the Revolt of Surinam. Almost 213 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 1: immediately he was being billed as the African Roscius, and 214 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: Roscius was a Roman actor who became sort of the 215 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: go to nickname for particularly successful actors later on. I 216 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: wonder why that fell out of favor. We could be 217 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: using that today, I know, and I it was one 218 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,440 Speaker 1: of those things where I was so many people were 219 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: referring to it, uh in the in you know, articles 220 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 1: about him and things like that. I had to go 221 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: look it up because I was like, but contextually, this 222 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:41,720 Speaker 1: is a nickname for a famous actor, but it is 223 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,440 Speaker 1: not really in common use. Now, let's bring it back. 224 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: Even though his performances were well received and he found 225 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: work really often, he and his wife really struggled financially 226 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:57,560 Speaker 1: at first. His engagements only gave him a lot of 227 00:13:57,559 --> 00:13:59,720 Speaker 1: the times a few days of work at a time, 228 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: and without a steady employment or a patron, at times 229 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: he would go for weeks without pay, especially in the 230 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,559 Speaker 1: earlier parts of his career. Aldridge falls in and out 231 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: of the historical record. Sometimes the only trace we really 232 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: have of him is in playbills and theater advertisements. We 233 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: do know that he returned to London in eighteen thirty 234 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: three to take over the role of Othello at the 235 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: Covent Garden Theater. He was picking up the role from 236 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: another famous actor, Edmund Keane, who had unexpectedly died, and 237 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,280 Speaker 1: once again he got a generally warm reception from the 238 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 1: audience and a fairly vicious one from critics. Before he 239 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: even performed, there were articles attacking him as being unfit 240 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: for the stage because of his color. Reviews were filled 241 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: with racist descriptions of his voice and appearance, and an outraged, 242 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: pitying response to his co star Ellen Tree and the 243 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 1: quote indignity of being pawed about by him in her 244 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: role of Desdemona. Although he was at this point still 245 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: a relatively in experienced actor, the critical response was really 246 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: just truly cruel and frequently threaded through with very thinly 247 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: veiled racism. Is veiled at all? Yeah? Sometimes it was 248 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: very explicit and written before he had even performed the part. 249 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: Isn't that how reviews? Yeah, it's It's somewhat unclear why 250 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: the critical reception to his work was somewhat kinder outside 251 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: of London. I'm not suggesting that there was none of 252 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: that in the reviews from other parts of the UK, 253 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: but it seemed to be at least toned down a 254 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: little bit. Also not totally clear why the reviews seemed 255 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: so vastly out of step with the audience response to 256 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: his performances. One theory is that in London, the critics 257 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: knew that he was really an American from New York 258 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: and not a prince from Senegal. Another is that social 259 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: conditions in London, including the rise of trade unions and 260 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: class consciousness among workers, was priming working class audiences to 261 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: really like the idea of an actor who was struggling 262 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: against oppression in a way that journalists weren't quite in 263 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 1: touch with. Regardless of what the causes were for this 264 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: sort of disparity between critics and theater goers, After his 265 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: run as a Fellow, Aldrich returned to acting in London's 266 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: minor theaters as well as in smaller British towns and cities, 267 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:30,680 Speaker 1: and he started to get more steady work, developing a 268 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: following of passionate fans and building up in a steady 269 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: income at multiple venues. Critics wrote about his having to 270 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: basically carry along cast members who were not as skilled 271 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: in their performance or didn't even know their lines. Eventually, 272 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: he began to expand his repertoire into Shakespearean roles that 273 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: were typically cast with white men, including Shylock Richard, the 274 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: Third Hamlet, Macbeth, and Lear. Using makeup to lighten his skin, 275 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: he basically became a Victorian era equivalent of a movie star, 276 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: complete with a legion of adoring fans and a steady 277 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: stream of female admirers. And this was mainly a true 278 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,399 Speaker 1: still outside of London. He never really caught on in 279 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: the eye of London society, but outside of it he 280 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:19,200 Speaker 1: was incredibly popular, including developing a string of patrons who 281 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 1: made his financial life a lot more comfortable. In July 282 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 1: of eighteen fifty two, he started his first major European tour, 283 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 1: including royal performances and heads of state in the Audience, 284 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,719 Speaker 1: which was again incredibly well received, but still did not 285 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: win critics over to his side. When he made yet 286 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: another go in London. He also started adapting works of 287 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 1: his own, including a complete redoing of Titus Andronicus, in 288 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: which It's Moorish character is the hero. I would love 289 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:52,240 Speaker 1: to see that, right, I'm kind of intrigued. Apparently it 290 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: was kind of uneven in his execution. Uh. And if 291 00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: you're familiar with Titus andronics, like the Moorish character in 292 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: that is not a hero at all. So uh yeah, 293 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: I I have not. I don't even know if an 294 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: adapt tate, like a copy of that adaptation even still exists, 295 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 1: but I am quite intrigued. This tour of the continent 296 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: also came just a few months after Harriet beecher Stowe's 297 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: Uncle Tom's Cabin had first been published, first in the 298 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: United States and then in Britain. And this book stoked 299 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: anti slavery sent sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic, 300 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: and it started to further shift the perceptions of Aldridge's performance, 301 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: particularly in the role of Othello. While that eighteen thirty 302 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 1: three Coming Garden Theater performance had been met with pamphlets 303 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: saying that a black man was unfit to be on 304 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:46,399 Speaker 1: the stage in Russia, in eighteen fifty eight, one review 305 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 1: read quote, I am firmly convinced that after Aldridge, it 306 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: is impossible to see Othello performed by a white actor, 307 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: be it Garrick himself. And that's a reference to David Garrick, 308 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: who was a famous British Shakespearean actor, Although he would 309 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: briefly return to Britain and even be granted British citizenship 310 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: on November seven, eighteen sixty three. His overwhelmingly positive receptions 311 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: in France and Russia meant that he spent most of 312 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: the last six years of his career there, ultimately making 313 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 1: a name for himself as one of history's great tragedians 314 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: and becoming a bigger draw than Russia's most famous actors. Apparently, 315 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:29,919 Speaker 1: Russia in particular loved him a lot. France also, especially 316 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: especially Russia, although shifting perceptions of race and of the 317 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 1: institution of slavery had also changed the way audiences and 318 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: the press were regarding him. Uh that doesn't mean that 319 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: the racism was magically over. The later part of his 320 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: career was beset by unfounded rumors that on stage he 321 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 1: had stabbed Iago's and suffocated Desdemona's for real. This led 322 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,439 Speaker 1: to his co star in Moscow refusing to take the 323 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,199 Speaker 1: stage with him and her role as Desdemona. His response 324 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: was quote, I have played that role more than three 325 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: hundred times in my life, and in all these times, 326 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: I have suffocated possibly two maximum three Desdemonas, and I 327 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: stabbed I think one Iago obviously was a joke. It 328 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: riled people up more uh. Biographers Herbert Marshall and Mildred Stock, 329 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: who wrote the first really definitive biography of him in 330 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, described this whole incident as quote an 331 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: out and out case of color prejudice. It was like, 332 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: really a completely unfounded rumor based on nothing, because people 333 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: were scared. If he had been an actor at the 334 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: Glonguignol it would have made him more popular. Oh yeah, no, 335 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,959 Speaker 1: he's really he's really smothering people. Al Dredge continued to 336 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: tour and perform for the rest of his life, although 337 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 1: his wife, Margaret eventually stopped accompanying him a few years 338 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,879 Speaker 1: before her death on March eighteen sixty four. She was 339 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: about a decade older than Ira, and her health had 340 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:07,400 Speaker 1: been poor at that point. Aldridge had been supporting her 341 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,960 Speaker 1: and an illegitimate son, Ira Daniel, who had been born 342 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: in May of eighteen forty seven and who Margaret raised 343 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: as her own. It's also unclear whether she knew about this, 344 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: but he had been supporting a second family as well. 345 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: He'd had two more children with a Swedish woman named 346 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:30,640 Speaker 1: Amanda Pauline von Brandt. These were Irene Laurna Pauline, who 347 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 1: was born in eighteen sixty and Ira Frederick Olaff known 348 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,399 Speaker 1: as Fritz, who was born in eighteen sixty two. And 349 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: similarly to how Margaret had been described as the daughter 350 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: of an MP, Amanda Pauline was said to be a baroness, 351 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,679 Speaker 1: she was definitely not. She was the daughter of a fairier. 352 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 1: Over the course of his life, Aldridge had actually fathered 353 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: several other children as well. In eighteen fifty five, another actor, 354 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: William Stothard, sued him over an affair with his wife Emma, 355 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:03,199 Speaker 1: after she'd delivered a biracial baby. Aldridge was found guilty 356 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,919 Speaker 1: of criminal conversation and sentenced to pay a fine. Ira 357 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 1: married Amanda Pauline in eighteen sixty five, and after that 358 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: they had two more children, Amanda Christina Elizabeth, born in 359 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 1: March of eighteen sixty six, and Rachel Margaret Fredrika, who 360 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: was born four and a half months after aldridge death. 361 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,720 Speaker 1: Ira died in Poland on August seventh, eighteen sixty seven, 362 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:29,640 Speaker 1: and he was buried there. Although he made specific plans 363 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: to return to the United States at various points, it 364 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: seems that he never did. When the new Memorial Theater 365 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: reopened at Stratford upon Avon in ninety two, Aldridge's name 366 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: was included among other great Shakespearean actors commemorated with plaques 367 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: among the seats. He is the only black actor of 368 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 1: the thirty three included. As I noted, Aldridge became quite 369 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,880 Speaker 1: successful in his career and he developed a pretty healthy income. 370 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: He started giving a significant portion of that income to 371 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,400 Speaker 1: abolitionist causes, and he also played a part in an 372 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 1: abolitionist work of art outside of the theater, which we 373 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: will talk about after another brief sponsor break. Irah Frederick 374 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: Aldridge was the subject of several works of art during 375 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 1: his lifetime. One was head of a Negro in the 376 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: character of Othello, which was painted by James Northcote in 377 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,959 Speaker 1: the first year that Ira himself appeared as Othello on stage. 378 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: So although the artist didn't specifically say this is Ira Aldridge, 379 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:40,160 Speaker 1: the widespread conclusion is that that's who paint the painting 380 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: is of. But another came back into the public eye 381 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: only very recently after having been in private collections for 382 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: a hundred and eighty years. It's by John Phillips Simpson, 383 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 1: and it's called the Captive Slave, and it was acquired 384 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,920 Speaker 1: by the Art Institute of Chicago in two thousand nine. Yeah, 385 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,639 Speaker 1: before this, people knew that the that it existed, and 386 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: there was a really poor quality reproduction of it, but 387 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: the original painting had been out of the public eye. 388 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,879 Speaker 1: The Captive Slave was painted sometime in the late eighteen twenties, 389 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,399 Speaker 1: and it's a painting of a young black man sitting 390 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: on a bench wearing manacles. He's wearing an orange jumpsuit 391 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: and for modern viewers it will probably immediately bring to 392 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: mind the idea of a prison jumpsuit. He's looking upward 393 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,879 Speaker 1: and his face carries this impression of nearly tearful sorrow 394 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: and lost. This is the painting that first went on 395 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: exhibition at the Royal Academy of the Arts in eight 396 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,880 Speaker 1: and its entry in the exhibition catalog included lines from Charity, 397 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 1: which is an anti slavery poem by William Cowper. It's 398 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: clearly meant as an anti slavery work, and the man 399 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: portraying the slave in the painting is Irah Frederick Aldridge. Um. 400 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,360 Speaker 1: A lot of people don't know that there was an 401 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: incredibly famous black actor doing Shakespeare in Victorian Europe and 402 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: especially England, even though they didn't love him in London, 403 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: but everywhere else they super Thanks so much for joining 404 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of 405 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 1: the archive, if you heard an email address or a 406 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,720 Speaker 1: Facebook U r L or something similar over the course 407 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: of the show, that could be obsolete now. 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