Edward Askew Sothern

Edward Sothern in his most famous role as Lord Dundreary, sporting the exaggerated "Dundreary whiskers"

Edward Askew Sothern (1 April 1826 – 21 January 1881), English actor known for his comic roles, particularly Lord Dundreary in Our American Cousin.

Life and career

Sothern was born in Liverpool, the son of a merchant. He began acting as an amateur, and in 1849 appeared in his first professional engagement with a dramatic company at Saint Helier in Jersey, as Claude Melnotte in Bulwer Lytton's Lady of Lyons. He was known as Douglas Stewart in the early part of his career. In the 1850s, he played in various companies without particular success, in Birmingham and in America, where he traveled in 1852, first playing Dr. Pangloss in The Heir at Law in Boston. In addition to working with Laura Keene's company, he also appeared at Barnum’s and at Wallack’s during the mid 1850s.

On May 12 1858 Tom Taylor's Our American Cousin premiered in New York, with Sothern in the small part of Lord Dundreary, a caricature of a brainless English nobleman. This play would later become famous as the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated. Legend has it that Sothern was at first reluctant to take this role; it was such a small and unimportant part that he felt it beneath him and feared it might damage his reputation. He mentioned his qualms in conversation with his friend, Joseph Jefferson, who had been cast in the leading role of "Asa Trenchard" in the same production. Jefferson responded with what has become one of the most-quoted lines in theatre history: "There are no small parts, only small actors." Sothern was a hit in the role, earning good notices for his physical comedy, and the play ran for 140 nights, which was very successful for a New York run at the time.

Sothern took the role and gradually worked up the humour of this part so that the role became the central figure of the play. The most famous scene involved Dundreary reading a letter from his even sillier brother. Sothern expanded the scene considerably in performance. A number of spin-off works were also created, including a play about the brother. In 1861, when it was produced at the Haymarket Theatre in London, Sothern made such a hit that the piece ran for nearly 500 nights. "Dundreary whiskers", "Piccadilly Weepers" or "Dundrearies", the long sideburns he wore as the character, became the fashion, and Dundreary became a popular recurring character. At various times, Sothern revived the character which retained its popularity in spite of all the extravagances to which he developed its amusing features; and his name will always be famous in connexion with this role.

In Tom Robertson's David Garrick (1864) Sothern again had a great success, his acting in the title-part, which he created, being considered extremely effective. Sothern also appeared in Roberson's Home. He won wide popularity also from his interpretation of Sam Slingsby in Oxenford's Brother Sam (1865). Sothern became popular with Robertson's crowd, including with manager John Baldwin Buckstone and dramatist W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a play for him in 1878, The Ne'er do Weel

Sothern had three sons, who all became actors. The second of them, Edward Hugh Sothern (b. 1859), became prominent on the American stage. Sothern's house in Kensington was a resort for people of fashion, and he was as much a favourite in America as in the United Kingdom. He died in London at the age of 54 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.

Famous hoax

Sothern was a born comedian, and off the stage had a passion for practical joking that amounted almost to a mania. When the husband of actress Adelaide Neilson, Philip Henry Lee, visited New York in the mid 1800s, he had been warned about the wild behaviour of American authors, but gathered that it was a joke. Sothern assured him it was true and arranged a private dinner for Lee with twelve "writers and critics" (who were really actors). During the dinner, an altercation arose over the passing of the mustard with a fight breaking out, the men brandished both knives and revolvers. The room was filled with shouts, shots, and struggle. Someone thrust a knife into Lee's hand, saying, "Defend yourself! This is butchery, sheer butchery." Sothern advised him to "Keep cool, and don't get shot." The performance ended with Lee hidden behind a door as the real police burst in because of all the commotion.

References

• Pemberton, T. Edgar. A Memoir of Edward Askew Sothern. London: Richard Bentley, 1889.
• Biographical information about Sothern
• Profile of Sothern

External links

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Photographs of Sothern