King also spoke Garrick's prologue. On 29 Oct. 1779, in the scarcely less famous original cast of the ‘Critic,’ King was Puff. Other original characters, to the number of about eighty, which he took at Drury Lane, and nearly all of which were of primary importance, include Mask in Colman's ‘Musical Lady,’ Prattle in his ‘Deuce is in Him,’ Spatter in his ‘English Merchant,’ Rufus Rubrick in his ‘Spleen,’ Sharply in Mrs. Sheridan's ill-starred piece, ‘The Dupe,’ Glib in Garrick's ‘A Peep behind the Curtain’—which, on the strength of the line spoken by King,
I, Thomas King, of King Street, am the poet,
was for some time assigned to the actor—Cecil in Kelly's ‘False Delicacy,’ Dr. Cantwell in the ‘Hypocrite,’ Bickerstaffe's alteration of the ‘Nonjuror,’ Muskato in Kenrick's ‘'Tis well it's no worse,’ Belcour in Cumberland's ‘West Indian,’ Mortimer in his ‘Fashionable Lover,’ General Savage in Kelly's ‘School for Wives,’ Nightshade in his ‘Choleric Man,’ Jack Hustings in his ‘Natural Son,’ Governor Tempest in his ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ Sir John Trotley in Garrick's ‘Bon Ton,’ Sir Miles Mowbray in his ‘First Love,’ Sir George Boncour in Fielding's ‘Fathers,’ Gradus in Mrs. Cowley's ‘Who's the Dupe?’ Sir Clement Flint in Burgoyne's ‘Heiress,’ Don Alexis in Mrs. Cowley's ‘School for Greybeards,’ Gabriel in Holcroft's ‘Seduction,’ Sir Paul Panick in Edward Morris's ‘False Colours,’ Sir Adam Contest in Mrs. Inchbald's ‘Wedding Day,’ the Fool in ‘Vortigern,’ Sir Solomon Cynic in Reynolds's ‘Will,’ Sir Marmaduke Maxim in Hoare's ‘Indiscretion,’ and Sir Valentine Vapour in ‘Fashionable Friends.’
To these must be added the parts he played in his own pieces. ‘Love at First Sight,’ a not very brilliant ballad-farce, by him (8vo, 1763), was acted at Drury Lane on 17 Oct. 1763, King playing in it Smatter, a servant who personates his master. In a short preface King says it was conceived, written, and delivered to the managers within fifteen days, and neglects to add that it was forgotten within a similar space. ‘Wit's Last Stake’ (8vo, 1769), his second farce, was given at Drury Lane on 14 April 1768. It is an adaptation of ‘Le Légataire Universel’ of Regnard, and its great success was due to King's reading of the part of Martin, the Crispin of the original, a servant who personates a man supposed to be dying, and dictates a will by which he himself benefits. Under the title of ‘A Will and no Will, or Wit's Last Stake,’ it was revived on 24 April 1799 for King's benefit, on which occasion King was Linger the invalid, and Bannister, jun., Martin.
Upon the death of William Powell [q. v.] King bought his share in the King Street Theatre, at which during the summer seasons of 1770 and 1771 he was actor and sole manager. He then sold his share to James William Dodd [q. v.], and purchased of the builder for 9,000l. three-fourths of Sadler's Wells, in which he was associated with Arnold. He made some changes in the performances, raised the prices of admission, and provided horse patrols, to guard through the dangerous district the fashionable visitors whom he attracted. His prices, three shillings boxes, eighteenpence pit, and a shilling gallery, entitled the visitor to receive a pint of wine at an added cost of sixpence. In 1778 King sold his share, and was succeeded by Wroughton. As successor to Garrick he was elected, on 14 Feb. 1779, master of the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund, and held the office until September 1782, when, on acceptance of the management of Drury Lane, he resigned it, the discharge of the functions of the two offices being held incompatible. His earnings as an actor were at that time 700l. a year. As manager and actor he found them reduced to 564l. 13s. 10d., being one-eighth share of the profits, his guaranteed remuneration. In June 1783, accordingly, he laid down his functions and issued an address, dated from Gerrard Street, in which he contradicted a rumour that he was about to retire from the stage, though he admitted it was ‘barely possible’ he might not act at Drury Lane during the coming season. He is said, accordingly, to have acted at Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as in Dublin. Mr. James C. Dibdin, the historian of the Edinburgh stage, does not mention his presence in this year, and speaks of his performance of Lord Ogleby on 28 March 1789 as his first appearance in Edinburgh. In October 1783 it was announced in the newspapers that King was not connected with the management of Drury Lane, but that his abilities and long service induced the management to offer him for his performance, advice, and attention a very liberal salary, stated to be 1,200l., but in fact only a thousand guineas. He delivered on his reappearance an address in verse, by Cumberland. In 1785 he seems to have resumed his management of Drury Lane, and is said to have been responsible for the successful pantomime of that year, ‘Hurly Burly, or the Fairy of the Well,’ for which he received 165l. In September 1788 he again resigned the management and his connection with the theatre, announcing as his reason, in an explanation which appeared on
