Bassano, London, Edward Sothern as Lord Dundreary, actor

Photographie originale / Original photograph

Publication Date: 1870

About this Item

Photographie,Vintage CDV albumen carte de visite. Edward Askew Sothern (1 April 1826 ? 20 January 1881) was an English actor known for his comic roles in Britain and America, particularly Lord Dundreary in Our American Cousin. Sothern was born in Liverpool, the son of a merchant. He began studying medicine, and his parents hoped that he would become a minister, but he decided against pursuing those professions. He worked as a clerk in the late 1840s and married Frances Emily "Fannie" Stewart (d. 1882). He began acting as an amateur in 1848 under the stage name of Douglas Stewart. In 1849 he appeared in his first professional engagement at Saint Helier in Jersey, as Claude Melnotte in Bulwer Lytton's The Lady of Lyons. In the early 1850s, he played in various English companies without particular success in Portsmouth, Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Sothern as Lord Dundreary As a result of his success in Camille, Sothern was given a part in Tom Taylor's Our American Cousin at Laura Keene's Theatre. This piece would later become famous as the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated. Sothern's role was Lord Dundreary, a caricature of a brainless English nobleman. At first, he was reluctant to accept the role; it was so small and unimportant that he felt it beneath him and feared it might damage his reputation. He mentioned his qualms to his friend, Joseph Jefferson, who had been cast in the leading role of Asa Trenchard in the play. Jefferson supposedly responded with the famous line: "There are no small parts, only small actors." // Circa 1870 // CDV, tirage albuminé, 6 x 10.5 cm, vintage albumen print // Format (cm): 6,5x10,5. Seller Inventory # PD8095

Bibliographic Details

Title: Bassano, London, Edward Sothern as Lord ...

Publication Date: 1870