On 24 August, he was Tranquille in The Little Laundress and Alessio in La Sonnambula! He added Sampson in Guy Mannering on 27 September. On 17 August he played Jean Jachere in Blanche of Jersey. A Quarter to Nine by Peake was written to introduce Compton (Frolick) as an imitator or personator, and performed on 5 August. On the 27 July he was Frolick in The Mountain Sylph and as Simon in The Rendezvous. He first appeared in London at the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House on 20 July 1837 as Tommy Tadpole in The Haunted Inn, followed, on 24 July 1837, as Robin in the musical farce The Waterman and as Paul Shack in Master's Rival. He moved from Jackman's Bedford company to Fanny Robertson's Lincoln company in 1832 before moving to York in 1835. He then began to specialize in low comedy roles in touring companies, where he played for over a decade. 1850Ĭompton's first professional appearances were in Shakespeare plays in the provinces. He took his grandmother's maiden name, Compton, as his stage name.Įarly career Drawing of Compton c. However, after running away for a third time in 1826, his family finally accepted his wish to become an actor. Compton was unhappy with a life in trade and, desiring instead a life on the stage, ran away twice but was returned to his family each time. After being educated at Huntingdon and at a boarding school at Little Baddow in Essex, Compton was apprenticed to his mother's brother, who was a cloth merchant in Aldermanbury, near London. Through both parents, Compton was related to members of the medical profession. His parents were John Mackenzie and his wife, formerly Mrs Elizabeth Symonds, and he was the sixth of eleven children. After he became ill, his friends organised two star-studded benefit performances for him in March 1877.Ĭompton was born in Huntingdonshire the son of a minister of the Congregational church, St Neots. Compton's last role was in 1877 in Liverpool as Pangloss in The Heir at Law. One of his most famous roles was the Gravedigger in Hamlet, which he played often, including at the Lyceum Theatre with Henry Irving in 1875. In the 1870s, he played frequently at the old Globe Theatre. In 1853 he joined the company at the Haymarket Theatre, where he originated roles in important new plays. He also played at the Olympic Theatre for three years, then the Royal Strand Theatre. He performed for three years at the Princess's Theatre, London, famously playing Touchstone in As You Like It in 1844. By the early 1840s, Compton had earned the reputation of being the best Shakespearian clown of his age both in London and in the provinces. Other notable roles that followed included Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer, Gnatbrain in Black-Eyed Susan, Sir Peter Teazle in The School for Scandal and Foresight in Love for Love. He first appeared in London in 1837 and joined the company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane later that year, again playing in Shakespeare. Henry Compton (real name Charles Mackenzie) (22 March 1805 – 15 September 1877) was an English actor best known for his Shakespearean comic roles.Ĭompton began his career in Shakespeare plays in the British provinces.
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