David Garrick, and Shakespeare
Lyra
Seeing a picture of David Garrick's temple to Shakespeare
interested me in looking at his life and legend.
(quote)
The Twickenham Museum The history centre for Twickenham, Whitton,
Teddington and the Hamptons
Friday, 8 February 2008
David Garrick Date: 1717 - 1779
England's greatest actor manager
Early days
David Garrick moved to Hampton House, now known as Garrick's Villa, in
1754. He had been born into a Huguenot family, in Hereford though most
of his early life was spent in Lichfield. He attended the local
grammar school and then a short-lived school run by his friend Samuel
Johnson, the great man of letters, who was the son of a Lichfield
bookseller.
He intended to study law and set out with Johnson in 1737 to seek a
career. He was coached at Rochester for a time and on his father's
death came to London and founded a wine merchant's business with his
brother, off the Strand. He had been involved in family theatricals as
a child and through wine selling to coffee houses, in Covent Garden,
became acquainted with theatre managers and actors.
His acting took London by storm
Starting by writing plays he progressed to acting. His performance as
Richard III, in 1741, took London by storm. By 1747 he had earned
enough to buy a half-share in managing Drury Lane Theatre.
His long relationship with Peg Woffington came to and end in 1744 and
he married an Austrian dancer, Eva Maria Veigel, in 1749.
They enjoyed a happy marriage, although unable to have children.
Hampton resident
To escape the pressure of London theatrical life he came to Hampton in
1754, first renting and then buying the copyhold of the property known
as Hampton House.
Garrick employed the Adam brothers to improve the house, in two
distinct phases (1755-56 and 1772-74). The house was an amalgamation
of some old cottages, unified by the addition of its distinctive
portico as well as what looks like yellow facing brick (in fact
mathematical tiles that imitate brick).
Gardens and Temple to Shakespeare
Capability Brown was consulted over the grounds and suggested building
the, still existing, grotto-like tunnel under the road joining the
house to the riverside part of the grounds. He also suggested the
building of serpentine paths, as recently reconstructed in the Temple
Lawn gardens.
In 1755-6 the octagonal Temple was constructed, possibly modelled on
Lord Burlington's temple at Chiswick House, to entertain visitors and
also to house some of the mementos to his beloved Shakespeare.
He also commissioned Roubiliac to make a portrait bust of Shakespeare
for a large niche in the Temple, a replica of which has been installed
in the Temple, which is now open to the public.
Naturally, as a Hampton resident Garrick was noticed by Walpole who
rather disparaged his social standing as a wine merchant turned actor.
He enjoyed professional and friendly relations for many years with the
actress Kitty Clive, Walpole's neighbour and friend at Little
Strawberry Hill.
The Shakespeare industry
Garrick promoted the Shakespeare Jubilee in 1769, which lost money but
probably marked the beginning of the Shakespeare industry. It also
left Garrick very firmly linked with Shakespeare.
In 1776, mainly due to ill health, he retired and sold his share in
Drury Lane to Richard Brinsley Sheridan. He died in 1779 at his London
house in the Adelphi and is buried in Westminster Abbey, by the foot
of Shakespeare, in a public ceremony. Walpole considered this
inappropriate for an actor, writing to the Countess of Upper Ossory on
1 February 1779:
"I do think the pomp of Garrick's funeral perfectly ridiculous. It is
confounding the immense space between pleasing talents and national
services."
Further reading:
Helen R.Smith, The Story of Garrick and His Life at Hampton, 1998
John Sheaf and Ken Howe, Hampton and Teddington Past, 1995, Pages 55-6
F C Hodgson, Thames Side in the Past, George Allen, 1913,
http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=189
Lyra
>
> Seeing a picture of David Garrick's temple to Shakespeare
> interested me in looking at his life and legend.
>
(quote)
David Garrick
Awe-struck by Garrick's portrayal of Richard III, the poet Alexander
Pope (Wikipedia entry) penned the lines "that young man never had his
equal and will never have a rival". David Garrick (1717-79) was the
most celebrated actor of his age. Champion of Shakespeare, Garrick
immortalised himself in the roles of King Lear, Hamlet and Macbeth.
Regarded by Fielding as "in tragedy to be the greatest genius the
world hath ever produced", Garrick was equally accomplished in comic
roles.
Manager of the Drury Lane Theatre, write, bibliophile and patron,
Garrick was perhaps the first actor to be accepted into intellectual
and aristocratic circles. He counted the Burlingtons, the
Devonshires, the Burneys, Johnson, Burke, Pope, Hogarth and Zoffany
amongst his varied circle of friends.
This naively charming portrait, by an unknown amateur artist, depicts
Garrick with a bust of William Shakespeare. The distinctive Palladian
bridge in the background still stands in the gardens at Prior Park
near Bath, then home of Garrick's friend Bishop Warburton. This work
is a copy of the portrait of Garrick commissioned Gainsborough to
paint in 1766. The painting was later reworked for the 1769
Shakespeare Jubilee, a nationwide celebration of the bard organised by
Garrick, which cemented Shakespeare's reputation as the national
playwright of England. Sadly the original was destroyed by a fire at
Stratford Town Hall in 1946. The work has survived in the famous
engraving by Valentine Green, which could have been the basis for our
copy.
Garrick was one of the most depicted men of his day. Out of the many
portraits painted of the actor, Mrs Garrick considered Gainsborough's
to be the best likeness of her husband.
Garrick's friend flocked to his Adam-fronted villa at Hampton. Samuel
Johnson, Garrick's former tutor remarked: "It is the leaving of such
places that makes a death-bed terrible". The lawn of this Thames-side
retreat is still graced by a simple temple to Shakespeare, built in
1755. It has been recently restored and is open to the public during
the summer months.
```````````````````
Lyra
(quote)
David Garrick (1717-1779) as Richard III
Reproduced from the painting by William Hogarth at the Walker Art
Gallery, Liverpool
David Garrick, Actor, Entrepreneur, fertilized the imaginations of the
Stratfordians with his elaborately "staged" but fabricated legend of
William Shakespeare. In Stratford, Shakespere the man was not
celebrated as the famous playwright while he was alive and for over a
hundred years after his death; (1616) until David Garrick came to
town. Astonished that Stratford had not fully acknowledged him Garrick
started a tradition in 1769 by having a grand jubilee.
Garrick was buried in Westminster Abbey. There is a statue of him and
underneath it is written the following lines:
To paint fair nature by divine command,
Her magic pencil in her glowing hand,
A Shakespear rose: then, to expand his fame,
Wide o'er this breathing world, a Garrick came.
Though sunk in death the forms the Poet drew,
The actor's genius bade them breath anew;
Though, like the bard himself, in night they lay,
Immortal Garrick call'd them back to day;
And till Eternity with pow'r sublime
Shall mark the moral hour of hoary Time,
Shakespear and Garrick like twin-stars shall shine,
And earth irradiate with a beam divine.
For more information read The Cult of Shakespeare by F.E. Halliday.
1957.
http://www.sirbacon.org/links/dg.htm
`````````
> http://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/leisure_and_culture/arts/orleans_hous...
Lyra
(quote)
David Garrick
David Garrick by Thomas Gainsborough.
David Garrick by Thomas Gainsborough.
David Garrick born (19 February 1717 in Hereford - 20 January 1779)
was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who
influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the
18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson. Amateur
theatricals comprised his first work on the stage, however, it was not
until his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare's Richard III
that audiences and managers began to take notice. With the success of
Richard III and a number of other roles, Charles Fleetwood engaged
Garrick for a season at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He remained
with the Drury Lane company for the next five years and purchased a
share of the theatre with James Lacy. This purchase inaugurated twenty-
nine years of Garrick's management of the Drury Lane, during which
time, it rose to prominence as one of the leading theatres in Europe.
At his death, three years after his retirement from Drury Lane and the
stage, he was given a lavish public funeral at Westminster Abbey where
he was laid in Poet's Corner.
As an actor, Garrick promoted realistic acting that departed from the
bombastic style that was entrenched when Garrick first came to
prominence. His acting delighted many audiences and his direction of
many of the top actors of the English stage influenced their styles as
well. Furthermore, during his tenure as manager of Drury Lane, Garrick
sought to reform audience behaviour. While this led to some discontent
among the theatre-going public, many of his reforms eventually did
take hold. In addition to audiences, Garrick sought reform in
production matters, bringing an over-arching consistency to
productions that included scenery, costumes and even special effects.
Garrick's influence extended into the literary side of theatre as
well. Critics are almost unanimous in saying he was not a good
playwright, but his work in bringing Shakespeare to contemporary
audiences is notable. In addition, he adapted many older plays in the
repertoire that might have been forgotten. These included many plays
of the Restoration era. Indeed, while influencing the theatre towards
a better standard he also gained a better reputation for theatre folk.
This accomplishment led Samuel Johnson to remark that "his profession
made him rich and he made his profession respectable."
Contents
* 1 Biography
o 1.1 Early life
o 1.2 Professional actor
o 1.3 At Drury Lane
* 2 An easy, natural manner
* 3 Legacy
* 4 Major works
* 5 References
* 6 Notes
* 7 External links
Biography
Early life
Garrick was born into a family with French Huguenot roots that could
be traced to the Languedoc region of southern France. Garrick's great-
grandfather, David Garric, was in Bordeaux in 1685 when the Edict of
Nantes was abolished, revoking the rights of Protestants in France.
David Garrick fled to London and his son, Peter who was an infant at
the time, was later smuggled out by a nurse when he was deemed old
enough to make the journey. David Garrick became a British subject
upon his arrival in Britain and anglicized the name to Garrick.[1] At
the time of David Garrick's birth in 1717, the family was living in
the city of Hereford moving to Lichfield, home to Garrick's mother,
shortly after his birth. His father, Captain Peter Garrick, was an
army recruiting officer stationed, through most of young Garrick's
childhood, in Gibraltar.[2] Garrick was the third of five children and
his younger brother, George (1723-1779), would be an aide to David for
the remainder of his life. Playwright and actor, Charles Dibdin,
recorded that George, discovering his brother's absence would often
inquire "Did David want me?" Upon Garrick's death in 1779, it was
noted that George died forty-eight hours later, leading some to
speculate that "David wanted him."[3]
Playbill from Garrick's debut as Richard III.
Playbill from Garrick's debut as Richard III.
At the age of nineteen, Garrick, who had been educated at Lichfield
Grammar School, enrolled in Samuel Johnson's Edial Hall School.
Garrick showed an enthusiasm for the theatre very early on and he
appeared in a school production around this time in the role of
Sergeant Kite in George Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer. After
Johnson's school was closed, he and Garrick, now friends, travelled to
London together in order to seek their fortunes. Upon his arrival in
1737, Garrick and his brother became partners in a wine business with
operations in both London and Lichfield with David taking the London
operation.[4] The business did not flourish, possibly due to Garrick's
distraction by amateur theatricals. Playwright Samuel Foote remarked
that he had known Garrick to have only three quarts of vinegar in his
cellar and still calling himself a wine merchant.[5]
Have mercy, Jesu! Soft! I did but dream. O coward conscience, how dost
thou afflict me! -- Shakespeare's Richard III Act V, Sc. 3. David
Garrick in 1745 as Richard III just before the battle of Bosworth
Field, his sleep having been haunted by the ghosts of those he has
murdered, wakes to the realization that he is alone in the world and
death is imminent. Painting by English painter, William Hogarth.
Have mercy, Jesu! Soft! I did but dream. O coward conscience, how dost
thou afflict me! -- Shakespeare's Richard III Act V, Sc. 3. David
Garrick in 1745 as Richard III just before the battle of Bosworth
Field, his sleep having been haunted by the ghosts of those he has
murdered, wakes to the realization that he is alone in the world and
death is imminent. Painting by English painter, William Hogarth.
In 1740, four years after Garrick's arrival in London and with his
wine business failing, he saw his first play, a satire, Lethe: or
Aesop in the Shade, produced at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[6]
Within a year he was appearing professionally playing small parts at
the Goodman's Fields Theatre under the management of Henry Giffard.
The Goodman's Fields Theatre had been shuttered by the Licensing Act
of 1737 which closed all theatres that did not hold the letters patent
and required all plays to be approved by the Lord Chamberlain before
performance. Garrick's performances at the theatre was a result of
Giffard's help with Garrick's wine business. Giffard had helped
Garrick win the business of the Bedford Coffee-house, an establishment
patronized by many theatrical and literary people and a location
Garrick frequented.[7]
Professional actor
He made his debut as a professional actor at Ipswich in 1741 in
Oroonoko or the Royal Slave, a play by the British dramatist Thomas
Southerne. He also joined a summer tour to Ipswich with Giffard's
troupe, where he played Aboan in Southerne's Oroonoko, appearing under
the stage name Lyddal to avoid the consternation of his family.[8]
But, while he was successful under Giffard, the managers of Drury Lane
and Covent Garden rejected him.[9] On 19 October 1741, Garrick
appeared in the title role of Richard III. He had been coached in the
role by actor and playwright Charles Macklin and his natural
performance, which rejected the declamatory acting style so prevalent
in the period, soon was the talk of London. Of his performance at
Goodman's Fields, Horace Walpole remarked, "there was a dozen dukes a
night at Goodman's Fields."[10] Following his rousing performance,
Garrick wrote to his brother requesting withdrawal from the
partnership in order to devote his time completely to the stage.
Having found success with Richard III, Garrick moved onto a number of
other roles including Shakespeare's King Lear and Pierre in Otway's
Venice Preserv'd as well as comic roles such as Bayes in Buckingham's
The Rehearsal; a total of 18 roles in all in just the first six months
of his acting career. His success led Alexander Pope, who saw him
perform three times during this period, to surmise, "that young man
never had his equal as an actor, and he will never have a rival."[11]
With his success at Goodman's Fields, Charles Fleetwood, manager of
Drury Lane, engaged Garrick to play Chaumont on Otway's The Orphan (a
role he first played in Ipswich[12]) on 11 May 1742 while he used his
letters patent to close down Giffard's theatre.[13] That same month,
Garrick played King Lear opposite Margaret "Peg" Woffington as
Cordelia and his popular Richard III.[14] With these successes,
Fleetwood engaged Garrick for the full 1742-43 season.[15]
At Drury Lane
Garrick (right) as Abel Drugger in Jonson's The Alchemist painted by
Johann Zoffany.
Garrick (right) as Abel Drugger in Jonson's The Alchemist painted by
Johann Zoffany.
At the end of the London season, Garrick, along with Peg Woffington,
traveled to Dublin for the summer season at the Theatre Royal, Smock
Lane. While in Dublin, Garrick added two new roles to his repertoire:
Shakespeare's Hamlet, Abel Drugger in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist (a
role that garnered him much acclaim[16]) and Captain Plume in
Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer.[17] Some of his success could be
attributed to one of his earliest fans, John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork,
who wrote letters to many noblemen and gentlemen recommending
Garrick's acting. His writings led Garrick to exclaim that it must
have been the reason he was "more caressed" in Dublin.[18]
Five years after joining the acting company at Drury Lane, Garrick
again traveled to Dublin for a season where he managed and directed at
the Smock Alley Theatre in conjunction with Thomas Sheridan, the
father of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. After his return to London, he
spent some time acting at Covent Garden under John Rich while a farce
of his, Miss in Her Teens, was also produced there.
David Garrick and his wife, Eva Marie Veigel, painted by William
Hogarth. This painting is in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.
David Garrick and his wife, Eva Marie Veigel, painted by William
Hogarth. This painting is in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.
With the end of the 1746-1747 season, Fleetwoods' patent on Drury Lane
expired in partnership with James Lacy, Garrick took over the theatre
in April of 1747. The theatre had been in a decline for some years,
but the partnership of Garrick and Lacy led to success and accolades.
The first performance under Garrick and Lacy's management opened with
an Ode to Drury Lane Theatre, on dedicating a Building and erecting a
Statue, to Shakespeare read by Garrick and written by his friend, Dr.
Johnson. The ode promised the patrons that "The drama's law the
drama's patrons give,/For we that live to please must please to live."
Certainly this statement could be regarded as succinctly summing up
Garrick's management at Drury Lane where he was able to balance both
artistic integrity and the fickle tastes of the public.
After the Woffington affair and a number of other botched love
affairs, Garrick met Eva Marie Veigel (1724-1822), a German dancer in
opera choruses who emigrated to London in 1746. The pair wed on June
22, 1749 and were preserved together in several portraits, including
one by William Hogarth. Hogarth also made several drawings and
paintings of them separately. The union was childless but happy,
Garrick calling her "the best of women and wives", and they were
famously inseparable throughout their nearly 30 years of marriage.
Garrick would manage the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane until his
retirement from management in 1776. In his last years he continued to
add roles to his repertoire; Posthumus in Cymbeline was among his last
famous roles. He died less than three years later, in London, England
and was interred in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. Mrs. Garrick
survived her husband by 43 years.
An easy, natural manner
Perhaps it was Garrick's acting, the most showy of his careers, that
brought him the most adulation. Garrick was not a large man, only
standing 5'4" and his voice is not described as particularly loud.
From his first performance, Garrick departed from the bombastic style
that had been popular, choosing instead a more relaxed, naturalistic
style that biographer Alan Kendall states "would probably seem quite
normal to us today, but it was new and strange for his day." Certainly
this new style brought acclamation: Alexander Pope stated, "he was
afraid the young man would be spoiled, for he would have no
competitior." and Garrick quotes George Lyttelton as complimenting him
by saying, "He told me he never knew what acting was till I appeared."
Even James Quin, an actor in the old style remarked, "If this young
fellow be right, then we have been all wrong."
While Garrick's praises were being sung by many, there were some
detractors. Theophilus Cibber in his Two Dissertations on the Theatres
of 1756 believed that Garrick's realistic style went too far:
His over-fondness for extravagant attitudes, frequently
affected starts, convulsive twitchings, jerkings of the body,
sprawling of the fingers, flapping the breast and pockets; a set of
mechanical motions in constant use; the caricatures of gesture,
suggested by pert vivacity; his pantomimical manner of acting, every
word in a sentence, his unnatural pauses in the middle of a sentence;
his forced conceits; his wilful neglect of harmony, even where the
round period of a well-expressed noble sentiment demands a graceful
cadence in the delivery.
Legacy
* A monument to Garrick in Lichfield Cathedral bears Johnson's
famous comment:
"I am disappointed by that stroke of death that has eclipsed the
gaiety of nations, and impoverished the public stock of harmless
pleasure."
* A carved stone medallion, a metre or more in diameter, showing
Garrick is on display at Birmingham Central Library.
* Garrick was the first actor to be granted the honour of being
buried in Westminster Abbey, the second being Sir Laurence Olivier in
1989.
* Two theatres, in London, have been named for him. The first,
Garrick Theatre (Leman St) in Whitechapel opened in 1831, and closed
in 1881. The second, opened in 1889 as the Garrick Theatre, still
survives.
* The Lichfield Garrick Theatre takes its name from David Garrick,
as does the Garrick Room, the main function suite in Lichfield's
George Hotel.
* A School House at King Edward VI School, Lichfield is named
after him.
* A Community Theatre located north of Perth, Western Australia is
named after Garrick.
Major works
A Scene from "The Farmer's Return" by David Garrick. David Garrick as
the Farmer and Mrs. Bradshaw as the Farmer's Wife
A Scene from "The Farmer's Return" by David Garrick. David Garrick as
the Farmer and Mrs. Bradshaw as the Farmer's Wife
* Lethe: or, Aesop in the Shades (1740)
* The Lying Valet (1741)
* Miss in Her Teens; or, The Medley of Lovers (1747)
* Lilliput (1756)
* The Male Coquette; or, Seventeen Fifty Seven (1757)
* The Guardian (1759)
* Harlequin's Invasion (1759)
* The Enchanter; or, Love and Magic (1760)
* The Farmer's Return from London (1762)
* The Clandestine Marriage (1766)
* Neck or Nothing (1766)
* Cymon (1767)
* Linco's Travels (1767)
* A Peep Behind the Curtain, or The New Rehearsal (1767)
* The Jubilee (1769)
* The Irish Widow (1772)
* A Christmas Tale (1773)
* The Meeting of the Company; or, Bayes's Art of Acting (1774)
* Bon Ton; or, High Life Above Stairs (1775)
* The Theatrical Candidates (1775)
* May-Day; or, The Little Gypsy (1775)
References
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
an assessment of Garrick's career
* "David Garrick". Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.
* Freedley, George and John A. Reeves. A History of the Theatre.
New York, Crown. 1968.
* Kendall, Alan. David Garrick: A Biography. New York, St.
Martin's Press. 1985.
* Hartnoll, Phyllis. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Oxford,
Oxford University Press. 1983.
* Holland, Peter. "David Garrick". in Banham, Martin, ed. The
Cambridge Guide to Theatre. London, Cambridge University Press. 1995.
pp. 411-412.
* Seewald, Jan. Theatrical Sculpture. Skulptierte Bildnisse
berühmter englischer Schauspieler (1750-1850), insbesondere David
Garrick und Sarah Siddons. Herbert Utz Verlag, München 2007, ISBN
978-3-8316-0671-9
* Woods, Leigh. David Garrick. in Pickering, David, ed.
International Dictionary of Theatre. Vol. 3. New York, St. James
Press. 1996.
Notes
1. ^ Kendall, p. 12.
2. ^ Britannica.
3. ^ Kendall, p. 13.
4. ^ Hartnoll, p. 315.
5. ^ Britannica.
6. ^ Kendall, p.17.
7. ^ Kendall, p. 19.
8. ^ Holland, p. 411.
9. ^ Hartnoll, p. 315.
10. ^ Freedley, p. 290.
11. ^ Britannica
12. ^ Woods, p. 291.
13. ^ Hartnoll, p. 231.
14. ^ Kendall, p. 27
15. ^ Hartnoll, p. 315.
16. ^ Hartnoll, p. 315.
17. ^ Woods, p. 291.
18. ^ Kendall, p. 26.
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
David Garrick
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
David Garrick
* 'David Garrick as Richard III' by William Hogarth at the Walker
Art Gallery, Liverpool
* Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare
* http://www.lichfieldgarrick.com Garrick Theatre Lichfield
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Garrick"
Categories: English actors | English dramatists and playwrights |
English theatre managers and producers | Lichfield | People from
Hereford | Shakespearean actors | 1717 births | 1779 deaths | Burials
at Westminster Abbey | 18th century actors | People from Ipswich
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Garrick
`````````
book...@yahoo.com
<M.Q.a...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>Drury Lane Theatre
And Garrick was a poet, then became an actor. Quote from Drury-lane
Prologue Spoken by Mr. Garrick at the Opening of the Theatre in
Drury-Lane, 1747.
1 When Learning's triumph o'er her barb'rous foes
2 First rear'd the stage, immortal Shakespear rose;
3 Each change of many-colour'd life he drew,
4 Exhausted worlds, and then imagin'd new:
5 Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign,
6 And panting Time toil'd after him in vain:
7 His pow'rful strokes presiding Truth impress'd,
8 And unresisted Passion storm'd the breast.
lackpurity
Vicar Grad Kid David Garrick
Viva Dead David Eva
Eva was David's wife. He sure helped to resurrect Shakespeare.
Michael Martin
> read more �...
lackpurity
Karmic Wail Girl
A Karmic Rig, Will
Michael Martin
> > Garrick's acting. His writings led Garrick to exclaim that it must- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -...
>
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