Life

Egerton was born in the city of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 14 April 1772. According to various accounts, presumably supplied by himself, he was 'bred to the law in a public office.' Another source says, however, 'he was in business near Whitechapel

Whitechapel

Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...

, and made his first attempt on the stage in this assumed name at the Royalty Theatre

Royalty Theatre

The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...

.' He played also once or twice for benefits at the Haymarket Theatre

Haymarket 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...

. On 4 June 1799 he made, as Captain Absolute in The Rivals

The Rivals

The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...

, his first appearance at the Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 theatre, then under the management of the elder Macready. Here he remained two summers, playing during the winter months with Stephen Kemble

Stephen Kemble

George Stephen Kemble was a successful theatre manager, British actor, writer, and a member of the famous Kemble family....

 in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. On 28 Nov. 1801, as Millamour in Arthur Murphy

Arthur Murphy

Arthur Murphy , also known by the pseudonym Charles Ranger, was an Irish writer.-Biography:He was born at Cloonyquin, County Roscommon, Ireland, the son of Richard Murphy and Jane French....

's Know Your Own Mind, he made his first appearance at Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

. He was first seen in Bath on 17 May 1803, as Frederick in George Colman the Younger

George Colman the Younger

George Colman , known as "the Younger", English dramatist and miscellaneous writer, was the son of George Colman "the Elder".-Life:...

's The Poor Gentleman. At Bath he also played Jaffeir in Venice Preserved and other characters. After the departure of 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...

 from Bath, Egerton played Lord Townly in Colley Cibber

Colley Cibber

Colley Cibber was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style...

's The Provok'd Husband, Mr. Oakley in The Jealous Wife

The Jealous Wife

The Jealous Wife is a 1761 British play by George Colman the Elder. A comedy - it was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre on 12 February 1761 and ran for nineteen performances in its first season and seventy by the end of the century...

, Rolla in Pizarro, and many important parts.

Egerton left Bath for London in 1809, appearing on 28 Oct. at Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

 during the O. P. Riots as Lord Avondale in Thomas Morton

Thomas Morton (playwright)

Thomas Morton was an English playwright.-Life:Morton was born in the city of Durham. He was the son of John and Grace Morton of Whickham, County Durham. He went to London to study law at Lincoln's Inn, but abandoned his studies for playwriting. For much of his life, Thomas lived in Pangbourne in...

's The School of Reform. In tragedy King Henry VIII, Tullus Aufidius in Coriolanus

Coriolanus

Gaius Marcius Coriolanus was a Roman general who is said to have lived in the 5th century BC. He received his toponymic cognomen "Coriolanus" because of his exceptional valor in a Roman siege of the Volscian city of Corioli. He was then promoted to a general...

, Syphax in Cato, and Clytus in Alexander the Great were esteemed his best parts. From this time until close upon his death he remained a member of the Covent Garden company, his chief occupation being secondary characters in tragedy or serious drama and what is technically called 'heavy business.'

While engaged at Covent Garden he assumed the management first of Sadler's Wells (1821–1824), and of the Olympic Theatre

Olympic Theatre

The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...

 (1821). He acted himself at neither house, though his wife, Sarah Egerton

Sarah Egerton (actress)

Sarah Egerton was an English actress. The judgement of William Macready was that 'her merits were confined to melodrama.'-Early life:...

, constituted at both a principal attraction. His conduct of the Olympic embroiled him for a time with the management of Covent Garden. It was, however, a failure and was soon abandoned. On 1 July 1833, in conjunction with William Abbot

William Abbot

William Abbot , was an English actor.He was born in Chelsea, London, and made his first appearance on the stage at Bath in 1806, and his first London appearance in 1808. At Covent Garden in 1813, in light comedy and melodrama, he made his first decided success...

, his associate at Covent Garden, he opened the Victoria Theatre

Old Vic

The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...

, previously known as the Coburg. In 1834 he retired from the management ruined, and died in July 1835.

Egerton was five feet ten inches in height, of strong and rather portly appearance. Contemporary criticism charges him with listlessness in his acting. The Thespian Dictionary says he gave in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 in 1800 an entertainment of his own extracted from George Alexander Stevens

George Alexander Stevens

George Alexander Stevens was an English actor, playwright, poet, and songwriter. He was born in the parish of St. Andrews, in Holborn, a neighbourhood of London...

's Lecture on Heads, &c., and entitled 'Whimsicalities.' A portrait of him as Clytus in Alexander the Great is in the Theatrical Inquisitor, vol. xi.