CHARLOTTE SAUNDERS

See also:

• CHARLOTTE SAUNDERS CUSHMAN (1816–1876)

CUSHMAN (1816–1876)  , American actress, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 23rd of July 1816 . Her father, a West India merchant, left his family in straitened circumstances, and Charlotte, who had a fine contralto voice, went on the operatic stage . In 1835 she successfully appeared at the Tremont theatre as the countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro . But her singing voice failing her she entered the drama, and played Lady Macbeth in the same year . She then engaged herself as a stock actress, but was soon given leading parts . In 1842 she managed and played in the Walnut Street theatre in Philadelphia . She accompanied Macready on an American tour, winning a great reputation in tragedy, and in 1845 and in 1854–1855 she fulfilled successful engagements in London . She was a keen student, and acquired a large range of classic roles . Her best parts were perhaps Lady Macbeth and Queen Katherine, her most popular Meg Merrilies, in a dramatization of Scott's Guy Mannering . Her figure was commanding and her face expressive, and she was animated by a temperament full of vigour and fire . These qualities enabled her to play with success such male parts as Romeo and Cardinal Wolsey . During her later years Miss Cushman worked hard as a dramatic reader, in which capacity she was much appreciated .

Her last

appearance on the stage took place on the 15th of May 1875, at the Globe theatre, Boston, in which city she died on the 18th of February 1876 . See Emma Stebbins's Charlotte Cushman, her Letters and Memories of her Life (Boston, 1878) ; H . A . Clapp's Reminiscences of a Dramatic Critic (Boston, 1902) ; and W . T . Price, A Life of Charlotte Cushman (New York, 1894) .