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CHARLES MACKLIN (c. 1699-1797)

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 260 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHARLES See also:MACKLIN (c. 1699-1797)  , Irish actor and playwright, whose real name was McLaughlin, was See also:born in See also:Ireland, and had an adventurous youth before coming to See also:Bristol, where he made his first See also:appearance on the See also:stage as See also:Richmond in See also:Richard III . He was at See also:Lincoln's See also:Inn See also:Fields about 1725, and by 1733 was at See also:Drury See also:Lane, where the See also:quarrel between the manager and the See also:principal actors resulted in his getting better parts . When the trouble was over and these were taken from him, he went to the Haymarket, but he returned in 1734 to Drury Lane and acted there almost continuously until 1748 . Then for two seasons he and his wife (d. c . 1758), an excellent actress, were in See also:Dublin under See also:Sheridan, then back in See also:London at Covent See also:Garden . He played a See also:great number of characters, principally in See also:comedy, although Shylock was his greatest See also:part, and Iago and the See also:Ghost in See also:Hamlet were in his repertory . At the end of 1953 See also:Macklin bade farewell to the stage to open a See also:tavern, near the See also:theatre, where he personally supervised the serving of See also:dinner . He also delivered an evening lecture, followed by a debate, which was soon a hopeless subject of ridicule . The tavern failed, and Macklin returned to the stage, and played for a number of years in London and Dublin . His See also:quick See also:temper got him into See also:constant trouble . In a foolish quarrel over a See also:wig in 1735 he killed a See also:fellow actor in the See also:green-See also:room at Drury Lane, and he was constantly at See also:law over his various contracts and quarrels . The bitterest of these arose on See also:account of his appearing as See also:Macbeth at Covent Garden in 1772 .

The part was usually played there by See also:

William See also:Smith, and the public would not See also:brook a See also:change . A few nights later the See also:audience refused to hear Macklin as Shylock, and shouted their wish, in response to the manager's question, to have him discharged . This was done in See also:order to quell the See also:riot . His lawsuit, well conducted by him-self, against the leaders of the disturbance resulted in an See also:award of £600 and See also:costs, but Macklin magnanimously elected instead that the defendants should take £See also:loo in tickets at three benefits—for himself, his daughter and the management . He returned to Covent Garden, but his appearances thereafter were less frequent, ending in 1789, when as Shylock,. at his benefit, he was only able to begin the See also:play, apologize for his wandering memory, and retire . He lived until the 11th of See also:July 1797, and his last years were provided for by a subscription edition of two of his best plays, i The See also:Man of the See also:World and Love in a See also:Maze . M4cklin's daughter, See also:Mary Macklin (c . 1734-1781), was a well-known actress in her See also:day . See See also:Edward A . See also:Parry, See also:Charles Macklin (1891) .

End of Article: CHARLES MACKLIN (c. 1699-1797)
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