Charles Mathews
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
theatre manager and comic actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, well-known during his time for his gift of impersonation
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
and skill at table entertainment
Table entertainment
Table entertainment was a form of English theatre in the 18th and 19th centuries. A table entertainment was only partly musical in character, and was given by a single performer sitting at a table and telling stories and jokes, giving displays of mimicry, singing songs, and so forth.The first...
. His play, At Home, in which he played every character, was the first monopolylogue
Monopolylogue
A monopolylogue is a stage play with more than one character in which one actor plays every role. Pioneered by English actor Charles Mathews, the genre has been revived in the late 20th and early 21st century....
and the defining work in the genre.
Early life
Charles was born to James Mathews (died 1804), a Wesleyan Methodist bookseller, printer, and pharmacistPharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
on the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
, who also served as minister in one of the Countess of Huntingdon's chapels. Charles was educated at Merchant Taylors' School
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
in London, which had some openings for common boys. He was next apprenticed to his father. For religious reasons, the father forbade his children from visiting theatres. During his youth, Charles met the actor Robert William Elliston
Robert William Elliston
Robert William Elliston was an English actor and theatre manager.He was born in London, the son of a watchmaker. He was educated at St Paul's School, but ran away from home and made his first appearance on the stage as Tressel in Richard III at Bath in 1791...
; after attending the Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
theatre, he was utterly fascinated by that world. Charles left his father in September 1793 for his first public stage appearance at Richmond. The following year his father allowed him to take up acting in Dublin, writing, "Charles, there are your indenture
Indenture
An indenture is a legal contract reflecting a debt or purchase obligation, specifically referring to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, an instrument used for commercial debt or real estate transaction.-Historical usage:An indenture is a...
s, and there are twenty guineas ; I do not approve of the stage, but I will not oppose your wishes. At any time hereafter, should you feel inclined to turn to an honest calling, there are twenty guineas more, if you send for them, and your father's house is open to you." Charles never claimed the extra 20 guineas.
Career
For several years Mathews took bit parts, but on 15 May 1803 he made his first London appearance at the HaymarketHaymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
, as Jabel in Cumberland's
Richard Cumberland (dramatist)
Richard Cumberland was a British dramatist and civil servant. In 1771 his hit play The West Indian was first staged. During the American War of Independence he acted as a secret negotiator with Spain in an effort to secure a peace agreement between the two nations. He also edited a short-lived...
The Jew and as Lingo in The Agreeable Surprise. As a continued public success, he was taken on at the Drury Lane. His gift for mimicry enabled him to disguise his personality without a change of costume. His versatility and originality were displayed in his one man show
One man show
The term one-man show often referred to comedian, who would stand on stage and entertain an audience. With the advent of feminism, words and phrases such as one-woman show and comedienne have entered the modern-day lexicon....
, or "monodramatic entertainment," entitled At Home or Matthews at Home, which he initiated in the Lyceum
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...
Theatre in 1808. Leigh Hunt wrote that his table entertainments "for the richness and variety of his humour, were as good as half a dozen plays distilled." The show combined mimicry, storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
, recitation
Recitation
A recitation is a presentation made by a student to demonstrate knowledge of a subject or to provide instruction to others. In some academic institutions the term is used for a presentation by a teaching assistant or instructor, under the guidance of a senior faculty member, that supplements...
s, improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
, quick-change artistry, and comic song.
In 1822-1823 Mathews toured the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(US) to great success. During his stay, he developed a number of impression
Impression
An impression is the overall effect of something.Impression may also refer to:* Material sciences, an indentation made by the pressure of an object into the surface of another object...
s of American types. One of these was the African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, said to have been based on the American black actor James Hewlett, who performed Shakespeare roles at the African Grove
African Grove
The African Grove was a theatre founded and operated by free African Americans in New York City in 1821, six years before enslavement of blacks fully ended in New York state The young Ira Aldridge was said to have played at the African Grove...
. In his next show, A Trip to America, Mathews sang a version of the popular slave freedom song
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
, "Possum Up a Gum Tree", performing in dialect and possibly in blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
. One author called him "the paterfamilias of the Yankee theatre and the progenitor of all native American dialect comedy." Mathews won 3,000 crowns' damages after bringing an action for libel against the Philadelphia Gazette.
Returning to England in autumn 1823, he joined Frederick Henry Yates
Frederick Henry Yates
Frederick Henry Yates was an English actor and theatre manager-Life:As the youngest son of Thomas Yates, a tobacco manufacturer, of Thames Street and Russell Square, Frederick was educated at a preparatory school at Winchmore Hill and at Charterhouse School...
, manager of the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
. During his successful career, Mathews, together with John Kemble
John Kemble
John Kemble may refer to:*John Kemble , Roman Catholic martyr*John Philip Kemble, English actor and manager*John H. Kemble, American maritime historian...
and John Braham
John Braham
John Braham was a tenor opera singer born in London, England. His long career led him to become one of Europe's leading opera stars. He also wrote a number of songs, of minor importance, although The Death of Nelson is still remembered...
, was received as a guest by George IV. A few years after his return from the US, Mathews bought a half-share in the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
. His connection with the Adelphi was a critical and popular success for Mathews, but not a financial success. In 1834, he made a second tour performing in the United States. He cut his trip short and returned ill from the tour, after his last appearance in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 11 February 1835.
Failing to recover his health, Mathews died poor in Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
in June 1835, without appearing again on a British stage.
Personal life
In 1797 Mathews married Eliza Kirkham Strong (1772–1802) of Exeter, the author of a volume of poems and some novels, and an actress. She retired from the stage in 1801 and died in 1802.In 1803 Mathews married Anne Jackson (died 1869), an actress and half sister to the actress Frances Maria Kelly. Anne Jackson Mathews wrote a biography of Mathews. His only child by his second wife was Charles James Mathews
Charles James Mathews
Charles James Mathews was a British actor. He was one of the few British actors to be successful in French-speaking roles in France. A son of the actor Charles Mathews, he achieved a greater reputation than his father in the same profession and also excelled at light comedy...
, who became a successful actor in turn.
Miscellany
- The character of Alfred Jingle in Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' novel, The Pickwick PapersThe Pickwick PapersThe Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club is the first novel by Charles Dickens. After the publication, the widow of the illustrator Robert Seymour claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband's; however, in his preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens strenuously denied any...
, is said to have been inspired by Mathews.