Page:Men of the Time, eleventh edition.djvu/276

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from the mAT^i^gnPTTMyn t. of thd Arch Street Theatre, Mr. Clarke appeared, in 1861, at New York, where he made a "hit " almost unprecedented. At t2ie Winter Garden Theatre, Kew Tork^ he fulfilled annually a star engagement, generally of 100 nights' duration, and acted regu- larly for shorter periods in all the principal cities of America. In 1863 he be<aune joint-leasee of the Winter Garden Theatre, New York, and so oontinued till 1867, in the spring of vhich year the estahlishment was destroyed by fire- In 1865 he pur- ehased, in conjunction with his brother-in-law, Edwin Booth, the Walnut Street Theatre, Philadel- phia, and in 1866 he became joint l^aee of the Boston Theatre, thus being simultaneously in the manage- ment of leading theatres in me three principal cities of the United States. In the autumn of 1866, he made his first professional appear- ance at Boston, where his perform- ances met with Immediate and un- equirocal success. In the automn of 1867 he came out at the St. James's Theatre in London, in the character of Wellington de Boots, which he had performed more than a thousand nights in America. His Boooeas was at once assured by the unanimous verdict of an audience totally uninfluenced by any personal feeling. Before quitting tiie St. James's Theatre, Mr. Clarke ex- hibited, as the consdence-strioken Yorkshireman, Bobert Tyke, in Morton's comedy of " The School of Beform," a remarkable mastery of the dialect, and a power of express- ing strong emotional feelings, which proved hu range to be by no means limited to eccentric comedy. In Febraary, 1868, he began an engage- ment at the Princess's Theatre, per- forming Caleb Scudder in "The Octoroon." He then acted in Liver- pool, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Dublin, Belfast, and other towns. On particular occasions he has played at Oovent Garden, Drury Lane, and the Adelphi Theatres.

Having resolved to appear in Lon- don in some of the old English comedies, he clung to the determi- nation tenaciously, made a special study of the character of Dr. Pan- gloss, and effected the revival of the younger Colman's comedy of " The Heir-at-Law," and subsequently of " The Poor Gentleman." He made his first appearance at the Strand Theatre, l^vember 6, 1868. He re- appeared in New York, April 17, 1870, before a crowded and culti- vated audience. The engagement extended to 42 performances, and he subsequently performed in many other cities of the United States. He re-a^eared in London, at the Strand l^eatre, July 29, 1871, as Dr. Pangloss. In Dec., 1871, he again crossed the Atlantic, and it was during this visit to America that he appeared at Philadelphia in conjimction with Mr. £. A. Sothem, both actors playing alternately at two theatres on the same evening. Mr. Clarke next appeared in London at the Strand Theatre, commencing March 9, 1872, and continuing for upwards of 60 consecutive nights, as Dr. OUapod in " The Poor Gentle- man." He extended his series of London triumphs by a masterly rendering of Bob Acres in "The Bivals," at the Charing Cross Theatre.

CLABKE, Mbs. Maby Cowdbn, the eldest daughter of Mr. Vincent Novello, and sister of Madame Clara Novello, was born in June 1809, and was married in 1828 to the late Mr. Charles Cowden Clarke, the friend of Lamb, Keats, Hazlitt, and Leigh Himt. A year after her marriage she commenced her minute analysis of our immortal dramatist, the "Complete Concordance to Shakes- peare, which, after sixteen years' assiduous labour, was brought to a successful termination, and pub- lished in 1845. In addition to this labour of love, Mrs. Cowden Clarke has written, "The Adventures of Kit Bam, Mariner," published in 1848 J "The Girlhood of Shakes- 8 2