William Charles Macready (March 3, 1793 - April 27, 1873), English actor, was born in London, and educated at Rugby. March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calaber). ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Inter. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,421,328 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. ... A view of Rugby School from the rear, including the playing field, where according to legend Rugby was invented Rugby School, located in the town of Rugby in Warwickshire, is one of the oldest public schools in the United Kingdom and is perhaps one of the top co-educational boarding...

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 June 7, 1810 he made a successful first appearance as Romeo at Birmingham. Other Shakespearian parts followed, but a serious rupture between father and son resulted in the young man's departure for Bath in 1814. Here he remained for two years, with occasional professional visits to other provincial towns. The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Romeo is: the main male character in Romeo and Juliet hence a boyfriend, or a term for a man who goes after a great deal of women. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Palladian-style Pulteney Bridge and the weir at Bath Bath is a city in South West England most famous for its baths fed by three hot springs. ...

On September 16, 1816, Macready made his first London appearance at Covent Garden as Orestes in The Distressed Mother, a translation of Racine's Andromaque by Ambrose Philips. Macready's choice of characters was at first confined chiefly to the romantic drama. In 1818 he won a permanent success in Isaac Pocock's (1782-1835) adaptation of Scott's Rob Roy. He showed his capacity for the highest tragedy when he played Richard III at Covent Garden on October 25, 1819. Covent Garden is a shopping and entertainment complex in central London. ... Jean Racine (December 22, 1639 – April 21, 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the big three of 17th century France (along with Molière and Corneille). ... Ambrose Philips (c. ... Sir Walter Scott, Bart. ... The Life and Death of King Richard III is William Shakespeares version of the short career of Richard III of England, who receives a singularly unflattering depiction. ...

Transferring his services to Drury Lane, he gradually rose in public favor, his most conspicuous success being in the title-role of Sheridan Knowles's William Tell (May 11, 1825). In 1826 he completed a successful engagement in the United States, and in 1828 his performances met with a very flattering reception in Paris. On December 15, 1830 he appeared at Drury Lane as Werner, one of his most powerful impersonations. In 1833 he played in Antony and Cleopatra, in Byron's Sardanapalus, and in King Lear. Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. ... James Sheridan Knowles (May 12, 1784 - November 30, 1862), Irish dramatist and actor, was born in Cork. ... William Tell (German Wilhelm Tell, French Guillaume Tell, Italian Guglielmo Tell) was a legendary hero of disputed historical authenticity who is said to have lived in the Canton of Uri in Switzerland in the early 14th century. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Antony and Cleopatra is a historical tragedy by William Shakespeare, first performed in 1607 or 1608 and printed in the First Folio, 1623. ... Lord Byron, English poet Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824) was the most widely read English language poet of his day. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is generally regarded as one of William Shakespeares greatest tragedies. ...

Already Macready had done something to encourage the creation of a modern English drama, and after entering on the management of Covent Garden in 1837 he introduced Robert Brownings Strafford, and in the following year Bulwer's Lady of Lyons and Richelieu, the principal characters in which were among his most effective parts. On June 10, 1838 he gave a memorable performance of Henry V, for which Stanfield prepared sketches, and the mounting was superintended by Bulwer, Dickens, Forster, Maclise, WJ Fox and other friends. Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (May 25, 1803 - January 18, 1873) was an English novelist, playwright, and politician. ... Henry V is a play by William Shakespeare based on the life of King Henry V of England. ... William Clarkson Stanfield (1794 - May 18, 1867), English marine painter, was born of Irish parentage at Sunderland. ... Dickens was a prolific writer who was almost always working on a new installment for a story and rarely missed a deadline. ... John Forster (April 2, 1812 - February 2, 1876), was an English biographer and critic. ... Daniel Maclise (1806 - April 25, 1870), Irish painter, was born at Cork, the son of a Highland soldier. ...

The first production of Bulwer's Money took place under the artistic direction of Count d'Orsay on December 8, 1840, Macready winning unmistakable success in the character of Alfred Evelyn. Both in his management of Covent Garden, which he resigned in 1839, and of Drury Lane, which he held from 1841 to 1843, he found his designs for the elevation of the stage frustrated by the absence of adequate public support. In 1843-1844 he made a prosperous tour in the United States, but his last visit to that country, in 1849, was marred by a riot at the Astor Opera House, New York, arising from the jealousy of the actor Edwin Forrest, and resulting in the death of twenty three persons and the further injuring of one hundred, who were shot by the militia called out to quell the disturbance. The Astor Place riot occurred May 10, 1849 at the Astor Place Opera House in New York City. ... This photograph of Edwin Forrest was taken by Matthew Brady. ...

Macready took leave of the stage in a farewell performance of Macbeth at Drury Lane on February 26, 1851. The remainder of his life was spent in happy retirement, and he died at Cheltenham on the 27th of April 1873. He had married, in 1823, Catherine Frances Atkins (d. 1852). Of a numerous family of children only one son and one daughter survived. In 1860 he married Cecile Louise Frederica Spencer (1827-1908), by whom he had a son. Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I. Painting by William Rimmer This article is on the play Macbeth by Shakespeare. ...

Macready's performances always displayed fine artistic perceptions developed to a high degree of perfection by very comprehensive culture, and even his least successful personaturns had the interest resultina from thorouah intellectual study. He belonged to the school of Kean rather than of Kemble; but, if his tastes were better disciplined and in some respects more refined than those of Kean, his natural temperament did not permit him to give proper effect to the great tragic parts of Shakespeare, King Lear perhaps excepted, which afforded scope for his pathos and tenderness, the qualities in which he specially excelled. With the exception of a voice of good compass and capable of very varied expression, Macready had no especial physical gifts for acting, but the defects of his face and figure cannot be said to have materially affected his success. Edmund Kean (March 17, 1787 – May 15, 1833) was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever. ... John Philip Kemble (February 1, 1757 - February 26, 1823), was an English actor. ...

See Macready's Reminiscences, edited by Sir Frederick Pollock, 2 vols. (1875); William Charles Macready, by William Archer (1890). William Archer (September 23, 1856 - December 27, 1924), English critic, was born in Perth, and was educated at Edinburgh University. ...

Macready's son was General Sir Nevil Macready, a distinguished British Army officer. General The Right Honourable Sir Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready Bt GCMG KCB (7 May 1862–9 January 1946), known as Sir Nevil Macready and affectionately as Make-Ready (close to the correct pronunciation of his name), was a British Army officer. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.