George Bartley (comedian)
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George Bartley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 1782 |
| Died | 22 July 1858 (aged c.76) London |
| Occupation | Stage actor |
George Bartley (1782?–1858) was an English stage comedian. He was successful in playing comic old men and bluff uncles, and Falstaff became his favourite character. He had roles in many Shakespearean Comedies throughout his career spanning over half a century.
Bartley was born in Bath, Somerset presumably in or about 1782. His father was box-keeper at the Bath Theatre. While still a youth he acquired some stage experience, appearing in characters ordinarily assigned to women, such as the page in John Cartwright Cross's musical drama, The Purse. After a period of odd jobs, Bartley appeared at Cheltenham in the summer of 1800 as Orlando in As You Like It. He is said to have appeared again in Bath, and then joined a travelling company. [1]
In Guernsey he made his first marriage, his wife being a member of the company, named Stanton, by whom he was nursed through an illness.[1]
In London
To the influence of Dorothea Jordan, who in 1802 saw him in Margate, Bartley was indebted for his engagement by Richard Brinsley Sheridan at Drury Lane Theatre. His first appearance in London is said to have taken place on 11 December 1802, but the exact date is disputed; it was perhaps, as he himself states, a week later. His opening character was Orlando. John Genest makes no mention of him before 20 September 1803, when he is described as playing Colloony in The Irishman in Distress, a farce of William Macready the Elder. Walley Chamberlain Oulton, in his History of the Theatres of London, states that on 19 January 1803, Barrymore, while playing Polydore in The Orphan by Thomas Otway, went down with a serious illness, and resigned the character to Bartley.:[1] Bartley however is advertised as appearing as Don Philip in She Would and She Would Not at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 20 January 1803.[2] According to a reference in The Times,[3] Bartley was part of the original cast in John Tobin's The Honey Moon, given at Drury Lane on 31 January 1805, in which he created the role of Count Montalban.
For some five years Bartley seems to have been mainly employed as understudy, replacing John Bannister, who then took serious characters, and occasionally attempting roles left vacant by the departure of Charles Kemble.[1]
