Actors - Ira Aldridge

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	Actors - Ira Aldridge

Ira Frederick Aldridge (1807–1867) was an American stage actor. He was born in New York City to Reverend Daniel and Luranah Aldridge on July 24 1807.

Aldridge attended the African Free School in New York City. His early "education" in theater included viewing plays from the high balcony of the Park Theatre, New York's leading theater of the time. His first professional acting experience was in the early 1820s with the company associated with the African Grove, where he debuted as Rolla in Pizzaro; he went on to play Shakespeare's Romeo and later became a rather famous Hamlet.

Charles Mathews famously imitated and parodied Aldridge as Hamlet. In Mathews' parody, Aldridge spoke the line "…and by opposing end them…" as "…and by opposum end them…", leading to a rendition of "Opossum Up a Gum Tree", the de facto anthem of African Americans at the time. Aldridge denied that this had actually occurred during his performances at the African Grove; according to Eric Lott, he actually borrowed the joke back from Mathews at a later date and made exactly that transition from Hamlet to the popular song.

Confronted with the persistent disparagement and harassment that black actors had to endure in the antebellum United States, Aldridge emigrated to England, where he became a dresser to the British actor Henry Wallack. He gradually progressed to increasingly larger roles; by 1825, he had top billing at London'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 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, and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice
.

By the 1830s, he had married an English woman named Margaret Gill, and earned the cognomen the "African Roscius". In 1831 he successfully played in Dublin, several locations in southern Ireland, Bath, and Edinburgh. Edmund Kean
praised his Othello; some took him to task for taking liberties with the text, while others attacked his race.

He first toured to continental Europe in 1852, with successes in Germany (where he was presented to the Duchess Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and performed for Frederick William IV of Prussia) and in Budapest. An 1858 tour took him to Serbia and to Imperial Russia, where he became acquainted with Leo Tolstoy. He mastered enough Russian to perform roles in that language.

Now advancing in years, he played (in England) the title role of King Lear for the first time. He purchased some property in England, toured Russia again (1862), and applied for British citizenship (1863). His wife Margaret died in 1864; on April 20, 1865, he married his former mistress, Amanda Von Brandt, with whom he already had a child, Ira Daniel. They had four more children: Irene Luranah, Ira Frederick, Amanda—all of whom would go on to musical careers—and Rachael, who was born shortly after Aldridge's death and who died in infancy.

Aldridge spent most of his final years in Russia and continental Europe, interspersed with occasional visits to England. A planned return to the post-Civil-War United States was prevented by his death in August 1867 while visiting Łódź, Poland. 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.
Children

Ira Daniel Aldridge, 1847-?. Teacher. Migrated to Australia in 1867.

Irene Luranah Pauline Aldridge, 1860-1932. Opera singer.

Ira Frederick Olaff Aldridge, 1862-?. Musician and composer.

Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge (Amanda Ira Aldridge), 1867-1956. Opera singer, teacher and composer under name of Montague Ring.

Rachael Margaret Frederika Aldridge, died in infancy.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ira Aldridge ]

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