Aldridge was born in
New York City to Reverend Daniel and Luranah Aldridge July 24, 1805. According to Aldridge, his paternal grandfather was a
Christian chief of the
Fula in
Senegal.
At age 13, Aldridge went to the
African Free School in New York City. His early "education" in theater included viewing plays from the high balcony of the
Park Theatre, New York's leading theater of the time.
Aldridge's first professional acting experience was in the early 1820s with the company associated with the
African Grove, an African-American theatre. He debuted as Rolla in
Pizzaro. He went on to play
Shakespeare's
Romeo and later became a notable
Hamlet.
The British actor and comedian
Charles Mathews came to the United States on tour in 1822–23. He had developed
table entertainments,
one-man shows in which he played a variety of parts. From his seeing the African-American actor James Hewlett, he developed a piece which he called "The African Tragedian", which he performed while still in the US. (This became part of his larger work entitled
A Trip To America). Mathews was very popular in London, so many people became familiar with his new work after he returned to London. Hewlett wrote a letter to him, which was published, challenging him on his satirical portrayal.
Confronted with the persistent discrimination which black actors endured in the
United States, Aldridge emigrated to
England, where he first worked as a dresser to the British actor
Henry Wallack. According to the scholar Shane White, English people had heard of the African Theatre because of Mathews, so Aldridge associated himself with that.
Bernth Lindfors says, "[W]hen Aldridge starts appearing on the stage at the
Royalty Theatre, he’s just called a gentleman of color. But when he moves over to the
Royal Coburg, he’s advertised in the first playbill as the American Tragedian from the African Theater New York City. The second playbill refers to him as 'The African Tragedian.' So everybody goes to the theater expecting to laugh because this is the man they think Mathews saw in New York City." In his performances, he used his skill to reverse what was expected.
Aldridge performed scenes from
Othello that stunned reviewers. One critic wrote, "In
Othello (Aldridge) delivers the most difficult passages with a degree of correctness that surprises the beholder." He gradually progressed to larger roles; by 1825, he had top billing at
London's Coburg Theatre as Oronoko in
A Slave's Revenge, soon to be followed by the role of Gambia in
The Slave and the title role of Shakespeare's
Othello. He also played major roles in plays such as
The Castle Spectre and
The Padlock, and played several roles of specifically white characters, including Captain Dirk Hatteraick and Bertram in Rev. R. C. Maturin's
Bertram, the title role in Shakespeare's
Richard III, and Shylock in
The Merchant of Venice.
Touring and later years
In 1831 he successfully played in
Dublin; several locations in southern
Ireland, where he created a sensation in the small towns; as well as in
Bath, and
Edinburgh, Scotland. The actor
Edmund Kean praised his Othello; some took him to task for taking liberties with the text, while others attacked his race. Since he was an American black actor from the African Theater, the
Times called him the "African Roscius". Aldridge used this to his benefit and expanded African references in his biography that appeared in playbills.
Aldridge first toured to continental
Europe in 1852, with successes in
Germany, where he was presented to the Duchess of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, performed for
Frederick William IV of Prussia, and performed in
Budapest. An 1858 tour took him to
Serbia and to
Imperial Russia, where he became acquainted with
Leo Tolstoy,
Mikhail Shchepkin and the
Ukrainian poet and artist
Taras Shevchenko, who did his portrait in
pastel.
Now of an appropriate age, about this time, he played the title role of
King Lear (in England) for the first time. He purchased some property in England, toured Russia again (1862), and applied for British citizenship (1863).
Marriage and family
Soon after going to England, in 1824 Aldridge married
Margaret Gill, an English woman. They were married for 40 years before her death in 1864.
A year after Margaret's death, on April 20, 1865, Aldridge married his mistress, the self-styled Swedish countess
Amanda von Brandt, with whom he already had a son, Ira Daniel. They had four more children: Irene Luranah, Ira Frederick and
Amanda Aldridge all went on to musical careers, the two girls as opera singers. Their daughter Rachael was born shortly after Aldridge's death and died in infancy.
Aldridge spent most of his final years with his family in Russia and continental Europe, interspersed with occasional visits to England. He planned to return to the post-
Civil-War United States, but he died in August 1867 while visiting
Łódź,
Poland.
His remains were buried in the city's Evangelical Cemetery; 23 years passed before a proper tombstone was erected. His grave is tended by the Society of Polish Artists of Film and Theatre.
A half-length portrait of 1826 by
James Northcote of Aldridge dressed for the role of Othello, but in a relatively undramatic portrait pose, is on display at the
Manchester Art Gallery (in the Manchester section); Aldridge performed in the city many times.
Children
- Ira Daniel Aldridge, 1847 – ?. Teacher. Migrated to Australia in 1867.
- Irene Luranah Pauline Aldridge, 1860–1932. Opera singer.
- Ira Frederick Olaff Aldridge, 1862 – ?. Musician and composer.
- Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge (Amanda Ira Aldridge), 1866–1956. Opera singer, teacher and composer under name of Montague Ring.
- Rachael Margaret Frederika Aldridge, 1867, died in infancy.
Legacy and honors
References
- ^ Marshall, Stock, 1993, pp. 14-15
- ^ Shane White, , Shakespeare in American Life, accessed 14 Oct 2010
- ^ a b Bernth Lindfors, "Aldridge in Europe: How Aldridge Controlled His Identity as the "African Roscius", Shakespeare in American Life, Folger Shakespeare Theatre, accessed 15 Oct 2010
- ^ Herbert Marshall, Ira Aldridge: The African Tragedian,
- ^ Manchester Art Gallery
- ^ Douglas O. Barnett, "Ira Aldridge", Black Past, accessed 15 Oct 2010
