George John Bennett
Encyclopedia
George John Bennett was for nearly 40 years a Shakespearian actor on the London stage, notably Covent Garden
and Drury Lane
. He was the son of the eminent popular comedian George Bennett and Harriet Morland, the daughter of an ancient family in Westmorland (parents: Jacob Morland of Killington, Dorothy Brisco of Kendal, and sister, Lady Shackerley of Somerford Hall). Both parents acted for the Norwich Company of Comedians
. He was born in Ripon
in Yorkshire
on 9 March 1800. At the age of 18, he acted at the Lynn Theatre in Norfolk
under the management of Messrs. Elliston and John Brunton.
, where he played with great success under the eminent tragedian Macready. After two years of wandering from theatre to theatre, from Richmond
to North and South Shields, his popularity increasing wherever he went, he finally settled in the York circuit, where his reputation as an actor was permanently confirmed. He remained there under the management firstly of Mrs. Mansell and next of Mrs. Fitzgerald.
While on the York
circuit, and after having received numerous invitations from other companies, he decided, in 1820, to join the Bath Company. This Theatre was the provincial school of histrionic art, and to any actor of ability, at once assured an eventual London engagement. In 1822, he made his first appearance on the London boards, at the Covent Garden
Theatre, having selected the part of Richard III
for his debut. In this role, however, his success, though unequivocal, did not meet his admirers’ expectations. Unfortunately for Bennett, Edmund Kean
had already made the part of Richard very much his own, and the crowds were not ready to accept a new Richard; even William Macready
had struggled to convince the audience in this part.
He subsequently played the character of Hubert in “King John” where he was well received. He would play this character for the rest of the season to crowded houses. The next season, he was offered the part of Hotspur, which he had originally selected for his debut, and he alternated this character with Mr. Young for the remainder of the season, playing also Iago
, Jaffier, Cassius
, Edmund in “King Lear
,” “and Joseph Surface in “ The School for Scandal
.”
His name was becoming increasingly well-known, as character after character was performed with increasing success, each role showing that Mr. Bennett never neglected an opportunity to study, and this helped the extraordinary natural genius he had demonstrated earlier. Amongst the roles added to his repertoire were the Duke of Malfi, in Miss Mitford’s ”Julian,” Figaro in “The Marriage of Figaro
,” Frankenstein
in “ Presumption,” Telaxo in ” Cortez,” Caspar in ’ Der Freischütz
.” and Old Foster in ‘Woman never Vexed'.
Both at this theatre and at the Royal English Opera House
, Mr. Bennett played the characters of Hotspur
, Romeo
, Jaques, Carlos, Sir Reginald, and Cassius
in “Julius Caesar
.” In Caesar, his portrayal of the hasty yet warm-hearted friend of Brutus
, was unrivalled, while his faithful representation of the man who “beareth anger as a flint bears fire and straight is cold again” was masterly in the extreme. At a later period, he was cast for Brutus in the same tragedy. Here he exhibited that peculiar versatility, or rather capability, of adapting himself to the spirit of his part, which had characterised his previous roles, and led to his lasting reputation.
, in 1825, then under the management of Mr. Elliston, with whom he had worked in Norfolk in the earlier part of his career. This gentleman was quick to discover the rapid progress the young Bennett had made in only such a short period, both in his profession and his steadily increasing popularity. As a result, he was to be found performing in Kenny’s “ Dream of Benyowski,” and likewise adding Sir Kenneth of Scotland, in ”The Knights of the Cross,’ Iacliimo, Wilford, Bassiano, and Faulkland, to his repertoire.
, he was immediately offered an engagement by Charles Kemble
, who was then at Covent Garden
. He chose to accept the engagement, and after the failure of the management, accepted the proposals first of Mr. Macready, and then of Mr. Phelps, performing his usual roles.
to act for the "prettiest and most renowned of London Suburban Theatres, Sadler’s Wells,” where he was soon as big a favourite with the audiences as he had been on the more legitimate London stages. As a result of the very good and well-deserved reputation of Mrs Warner and that of Phelps, Sadler's Wells had become a fashionable theatre. At Sadler's Wells, Bennett played Cassius in “Julius Caesar
”, Ludovico in ”Evadne,” Angus in “Feudal Times,” Felton in “ Saville of Haystead,” and Bossola, in ” The Duchess of Malfi
,” where "his solemn intonation and high conception of the character created a furore in the scene with Miss Glyn". He played with great success in “King and No King,” Bessus, Captain Poop in “The Honest Man’s Fortune,” and Caliban
, in “The Tempest
.”
that perhaps Mr. Bennett showed his true ability to conceive a role. In this part, as in the many other parts he played, he showed that he was an essentially poetic actor. Indeed, as a "Dramatic poet of no ordinary merit", he was well qualified for the role.
Trevor R Griffiths, in his article ('This Island's mine': Caliban and Colonialism(1983)) said that the importance of Bennett's interpretation was recognised by P MacDonnell, on two accounts: i) through engagements to repeat the part for Phelps in 1847 and 1849, and at the Surrey in 1853, and ii) through universal praise, well encapsulated in the Era's response to the Surrey Revival: 'Even Caliban,with all his grossness and hideous deformity, is a poetical character, and Mr George Bennett . . . gave to it great breadth and vigour, without a particle of vulgarity' (9 October).
Griffiths attributes
Virginia Mason Vaughan wrote
but, owing to a combination of circumstances, was not produced there. It was finally brought out by Miss Charlotte Cushman
, at Birmingham
. Mr. Bennett’s second play ‘Retribution’ was founded on perhaps the worst of Sir Walter Scott
’s poems, “Rokeby.” Both as Author and Actor Mr. Bennett "deserves our warmest mede of approbation". "His careful study, poetic conception of character, and faithful delineation, alike combine to elevate him to a distinguished niche in the dramatic shrine."
He has also written a number of other works:
.
Fellow actor, Frederick Robinson said of Bennett’s retirement: “This was George Bennett’s last season at Sadler’s Wells and his retirement made a great gap in the company which was never filled. He played all the principal heavy parts, in many of which he had no rival. His Caliban and his Bessus in Beaumont and Fletcher’s “a King or No King” were great performances, as were also his Pistol in Henry V and his Stout in “Money”. I have never seen his performance of these parts approached, and I have seen some very good actors play them.” New York Times
For the times he lived to a very good age, and died aged 79 on 21 September 1879 of "senile decay and exhaustion" (as per his death certificate)
Popular misconception in literature and newspapers of his day, and notably the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) that Miss Julia Bennett, who later became Mrs Julia Bennett Barrow, and acted firstly at the Hay Market, before moving on to the American stage, was his daughter. In fact, her father was William Bennett Esq.
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...
and Drury Lane
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
. He was the son of the eminent popular comedian George Bennett and Harriet Morland, the daughter of an ancient family in Westmorland (parents: Jacob Morland of Killington, Dorothy Brisco of Kendal, and sister, Lady Shackerley of Somerford Hall). Both parents acted for the Norwich Company of Comedians
Norwich Company of Comedians
The Norwich Company of Comedians was an acting company based in Norwich, England during the 18th and 19th centuries.They were a professional, respected and comfortably-off band with better than average wages and popular headquarters at the White Swan inn. The company was treated with deference in...
. He was born in Ripon
Ripon
Ripon is a cathedral city, market town and successor parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located at the confluence of two streams of the River Ure in the form of the Laver and Skell. The city is noted for its main feature the Ripon Cathedral which is architecturally...
in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
on 9 March 1800. At the age of 18, he acted at the Lynn Theatre in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
under the management of Messrs. Elliston and John Brunton.
The Provincial circuits
From the Lynn theatre, he went to the Theatre at NewcastleNewcastle 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...
, where he played with great success under the eminent tragedian Macready. After two years of wandering from theatre to theatre, from Richmond
Richmond, North Yorkshire
Richmond is a market town and civil parish on the River Swale in North Yorkshire, England and is the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. It is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and serves as the Park's main tourist centre...
to North and South Shields, his popularity increasing wherever he went, he finally settled in the York circuit, where his reputation as an actor was permanently confirmed. He remained there under the management firstly of Mrs. Mansell and next of Mrs. Fitzgerald.
While on the York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
circuit, and after having received numerous invitations from other companies, he decided, in 1820, to join the Bath Company. This Theatre was the provincial school of histrionic art, and to any actor of ability, at once assured an eventual London engagement. In 1822, he made his first appearance on the London boards, at the 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...
Theatre, having selected the part of Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
for his debut. In this role, however, his success, though unequivocal, did not meet his admirers’ expectations. Unfortunately for Bennett, Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever.-Early life:Kean was born in London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th century composer and playwright Henry Carey...
had already made the part of Richard very much his own, and the crowds were not ready to accept a new Richard; even William Macready
William Charles Macready
-Life:He was born in London, and educated at Rugby.It was his intention to go up to Oxford, but in 1809 the embarrassed affairs of his father, the lessee of several provincial theatres, called him to share the responsibilities of theatrical management. On 7 June 1810 he made a successful first...
had struggled to convince the audience in this part.
He subsequently played the character of Hubert in “King John” where he was well received. He would play this character for the rest of the season to crowded houses. The next season, he was offered the part of Hotspur, which he had originally selected for his debut, and he alternated this character with Mr. Young for the remainder of the season, playing also Iago
Iago
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...
, Jaffier, Cassius
Gaius Cassius Longinus
Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator, a leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar, and the brother in-law of Marcus Junius Brutus.-Early life:...
, Edmund in “King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
,” “and Joseph Surface in “ The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
.”
His name was becoming increasingly well-known, as character after character was performed with increasing success, each role showing that Mr. Bennett never neglected an opportunity to study, and this helped the extraordinary natural genius he had demonstrated earlier. Amongst the roles added to his repertoire were the Duke of Malfi, in Miss Mitford’s ”Julian,” Figaro in “The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
,” Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
in “ Presumption,” Telaxo in ” Cortez,” Caspar in ’ Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
.” and Old Foster in ‘Woman never Vexed'.
Both at this theatre and at the Royal English Opera House
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
, Mr. Bennett played the characters of Hotspur
Henry Percy
Sir Henry Percy, also called Harry Hotspur KG was the eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, 4th Lord Percy of Alnwick. His mother was Margaret Neville, daughter of Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice de Audley. His nickname, 'Hotspur', is suggestive of his impulsive...
, Romeo
Romeo Montague
Romeo is one of the fictional protagonists in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is the son of old Montague and his wife, who secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet...
, Jaques, Carlos, Sir Reginald, and Cassius
Gaius Cassius Longinus
Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator, a leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar, and the brother in-law of Marcus Junius Brutus.-Early life:...
in “Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
.” In Caesar, his portrayal of the hasty yet warm-hearted friend of Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...
, was unrivalled, while his faithful representation of the man who “beareth anger as a flint bears fire and straight is cold again” was masterly in the extreme. At a later period, he was cast for Brutus in the same tragedy. Here he exhibited that peculiar versatility, or rather capability, of adapting himself to the spirit of his part, which had characterised his previous roles, and led to his lasting reputation.
Bennett in London - Drury Lane
George Bennett later accepted an engagement at Drury LaneDrury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
, in 1825, then under the management of Mr. Elliston, with whom he had worked in Norfolk in the earlier part of his career. This gentleman was quick to discover the rapid progress the young Bennett had made in only such a short period, both in his profession and his steadily increasing popularity. As a result, he was to be found performing in Kenny’s “ Dream of Benyowski,” and likewise adding Sir Kenneth of Scotland, in ”The Knights of the Cross,’ Iacliimo, Wilford, Bassiano, and Faulkland, to his repertoire.
In Ireland
In 1826, he went to Dublin for two years, where he wooed the audiences nightly, and filled the Theatre to overflowing. While in Ireland, he also wooed and married Jane Daly, in Cork in 1828. They would go on to have 7 children, including actresses Fanny and Jane.At Covent Garden
Upon his return to EnglandEngland
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...
, he was immediately offered an engagement by Charles Kemble
Charles Kemble
Charles Kemble was a British actor.-Life:The youngest son of Roger Kemble, and younger brother of John Philip Kemble, Stephen Kemble and Sarah Siddons, he was born at Brecon, South Wales. Like John Philip, he was educated at Douai...
, who was then 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...
. He chose to accept the engagement, and after the failure of the management, accepted the proposals first of Mr. Macready, and then of Mr. Phelps, performing his usual roles.
At Sadler's Wells
Mr. Bennett was next invited by Samuel PhelpsSamuel Phelps
Samuel Phelps was an English actor and theatre manager...
to act for the "prettiest and most renowned of London Suburban Theatres, Sadler’s Wells,” where he was soon as big a favourite with the audiences as he had been on the more legitimate London stages. As a result of the very good and well-deserved reputation of Mrs Warner and that of Phelps, Sadler's Wells had become a fashionable theatre. At Sadler's Wells, Bennett played Cassius in “Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
”, Ludovico in ”Evadne,” Angus in “Feudal Times,” Felton in “ Saville of Haystead,” and Bossola, in ” The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play written by the English dramatist John Webster in 1612–13. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then before a more general audience at The Globe, in 1613-14...
,” where "his solemn intonation and high conception of the character created a furore in the scene with Miss Glyn". He played with great success in “King and No King,” Bessus, Captain Poop in “The Honest Man’s Fortune,” and Caliban
Caliban (character)
Caliban is one of the primary antagonists in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.- Character :Caliban is forced into servitude on an island ruled by Prospero. While he is referred to as a calvaluna or mooncalf, a freckled monster, he is the only human inhabitant of the island that is otherwise...
, in “The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
.”
As Caliban
It was as CalibanCaliban (character)
Caliban is one of the primary antagonists in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.- Character :Caliban is forced into servitude on an island ruled by Prospero. While he is referred to as a calvaluna or mooncalf, a freckled monster, he is the only human inhabitant of the island that is otherwise...
that perhaps Mr. Bennett showed his true ability to conceive a role. In this part, as in the many other parts he played, he showed that he was an essentially poetic actor. Indeed, as a "Dramatic poet of no ordinary merit", he was well qualified for the role.
Trevor R Griffiths, in his article ('This Island's mine': Caliban and Colonialism(1983)) said that the importance of Bennett's interpretation was recognised by P MacDonnell, on two accounts: i) through engagements to repeat the part for Phelps in 1847 and 1849, and at the Surrey in 1853, and ii) through universal praise, well encapsulated in the Era's response to the Surrey Revival: 'Even Caliban,with all his grossness and hideous deformity, is a poetical character, and Mr George Bennett . . . gave to it great breadth and vigour, without a particle of vulgarity' (9 October).
Griffiths attributes
"Part of Bennett's success [to] his close attention to the text, which is exemplified in his adopting long nails and high foreheads in response to Caliban's offer to dig for pignuts with his long nails and his fear of being turned into a low-browed ape. [...] Bennett's attention to detail and presentation of much of Caliban's complexity was enough to move MacDonnell to declare that his performance was an example, like Macklin's Shylock, of how 'some of the characters drawn by Shakspere, were never altogether understood, till the excellence of the histrionic art developed them' and to express a truly Romantic 'degree of pity for the poor, abject, and degraded slave'. He believed that Prospero was partly to blame for Caliban's behaviour, since he imprudently placed 'this wild and untutored creature' in a position which made his rape attempt more feasible. Furthermore he argued that Caliban 'amidst the rudeness of his nature and possessing an exterior ugly and misshapen . . . stimulated to revenge, by the severity he suffers . . . has withal, qualities of a redeeming nature'. From this perception it was but a small step for MacDonnell to make a link with a moral obligation to civilize the natives: Bennett delineated 'the rude and uncultivated savage in a style, which arouses our sympathies in behalf of those, whose destiny, it has never been, to enjoy the advantages of ~ivilisation'.H~e re, then, we have, in MacDonnell's response to Bennett's subtlety, the germ of an idea which was to grow in importance under the stimulus of the popularity of Darwinian and Imperialist theories. Although the readoption of Shakespeare's text and Bennett's sensitivity to Caliban's complexity led the way for a gradual displacement of the traditional comic wild man associated with the Dryden-Davenant versions, progress was by no means regular, and there were many simplistic interpretations after Bennett's breakthrough."
Virginia Mason Vaughan wrote
In the privacy of their studies, Coleridge and Hazlitt were free to respond
to Shakespeare's original text. Yet on stage, both at Drury Lane and at Covent
Garden, the Kemble-Dryden-Davenant version persisted. William Charles Macready
played Prospero in 1821, 1824, and again in 1833, but he did so unhappily.
Later he described the acting version he was forced to use as a "melange
that was called Shakespeare's Tempest, with songs interpolated by Reynolds
among the mutilations and barbarous ingraftings of Dryden and Davenant."
Macready found the performances tedious and lamented that his role was a
"stupid old proser of commonplace which the acted piece calls Prospero."
It is not surprising then that when in 1838 Macready revived the Tempest as
Shakespeare had originally conceived it, the new production confirmed the romantic
critics' more sympathetic conceptions of Caliban.
Caliban was by then a more important character, played by George Bennett,
an actor who excelled in tragic as well as comic roles. Besides Caliban, he
was remembered for performances of Sir Toby Belch, Pistol, Enobarbus, Bosola,
and Apemantus. Bennett's performance inspired at least one member
of the audience to see Caliban in a fresh light. Bennett, argued Patrick
MacDonnell, delineated "the rude and uncultivated savage, in a style, which
arouses our sympathies." ... Bennett began the stage tradition
of lunging at Prospero during the opening confrontation, then recoiling from
a wave of the magic wand, and finally writhing in impotent fury. Here the
modern Caliban, victim of oppression, was born.
Bennett the writer
His own play, “Justiza”, was first accepted by Mr. Webster, then the lessee of the Haymarket TheatreHaymarket 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...
but, owing to a combination of circumstances, was not produced there. It was finally brought out by Miss Charlotte Cushman
Charlotte Saunders Cushman
Charlotte Saunders Cushman was an American stage actress.-Early life:She was a descendant in the eighth generation from Pilgrim Robert Cushman.Robert Cushman brought the family name to the United States on the Mayflower as a leader and great advocate for emigration to America...
, at 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...
. Mr. Bennett’s second play ‘Retribution’ was founded on perhaps the worst of Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
’s poems, “Rokeby.” Both as Author and Actor Mr. Bennett "deserves our warmest mede of approbation". "His careful study, poetic conception of character, and faithful delineation, alike combine to elevate him to a distinguished niche in the dramatic shrine."
He has also written a number of other works:
- The Pedestrian's Guide through North Wales;
- The Albanians
Funny mishap with Die-again Macready
Plighted troth: a Dramatic Tale by CF Darley, a very long, Elizabethan-style drama on a religious controversy (Catholic versus Protestant), was Macready's unluckiest misjudgment. Believing the gloomy, turgid affair to be a work of 'fine thoughts expressed in massive language', he had approached it with confidence. But it lasted only a single night. Darley had called his chief character Gabriel Grimwood: Eliza Grimwood happened to be the name of a girl brutally murdered in Waterloo Bridge Road, and the gallery fastened on this. 'Look here, old bloke,' somebody shouted, 'who cut Eliza's throat?' The louder the gallery laughed, the colder Macready's acting became. During the first scene, George Bennett sprained his ankle, and whenever he limped on, the pit told him to "hook it, to the hospital!" At the end of the play, after Elton had stabbed Macready with a table-knife and the dead man had fallen beneath the table, Bennett - emerging from a bed and limping down to look at the body - trod heavily on Macready's hand. 'Beast!' cried the tragedian. 'Beast of Hell!' He lay down angrily, and died all over again, and at length the curtain fell to hysterical laughter.Bennett's retirement
Bennett left the stage in 1862, and took up photography in ChepstowChepstow
Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...
.
Fellow actor, Frederick Robinson said of Bennett’s retirement: “This was George Bennett’s last season at Sadler’s Wells and his retirement made a great gap in the company which was never filled. He played all the principal heavy parts, in many of which he had no rival. His Caliban and his Bessus in Beaumont and Fletcher’s “a King or No King” were great performances, as were also his Pistol in Henry V and his Stout in “Money”. I have never seen his performance of these parts approached, and I have seen some very good actors play them.” New York Times
For the times he lived to a very good age, and died aged 79 on 21 September 1879 of "senile decay and exhaustion" (as per his death certificate)
Bennett's Acting Daughters
- Miss Fanny Bennett (Sadler's Wells, Theatre Royals Edinburgh, Bristol and Bath), who married Charles Thomas Burleigh (real name: Thomas Burrows Kirk), London Theatre manager (Holborn Theatre), actor and contemporary of Squire BancroftSquire BancroftSir Squire Bancroft , born Squire White Butterfield, was an English actor-manager. He and his wife Effie Bancroft are considered to have instigated a new form of drama known as 'drawing-room comedy' or 'cup and saucer drama', owing to the realism of their stage sets.-Early life and career:Bancroft...
and Sir Henry IrvingHenry IrvingSir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
- Miss Jane Bennett
Popular misconception in literature and newspapers of his day, and notably the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) that Miss Julia Bennett, who later became Mrs Julia Bennett Barrow, and acted firstly at the Hay Market, before moving on to the American stage, was his daughter. In fact, her father was William Bennett Esq.
Further reading
- Samuel Phelps and Sadler's Wells Theatre Shirley S. Allen (Wesleyan, 1971) ISBN 0819540293