SAMUEL

See also:

• PHELPS, AUSTIN (182o-1890)
• PHELPS, EDWARD JOHN (1822-I900)
• SAMUEL PHELPS (1804-1878)

PHELPS (1804-1878)  , English actor and manager, was born at Devonport on the 13th of February 1804 . He was early thrown upon his own resources, and worked in various newspaper offices . Shortly after his marriage in 1826 to Sarah Cooper (d . 1867), he accepted a theatrical engagement in the York circuit at eighteen shillings a week, and afterwards appeared in south of England towns in prominent tragic roles, attracting sufficient attention to be spoken of as a rival to Kean He made his first London appearance on the 28th of August 1837 as Shylock .at the Haymarket . After a short season there he was with Macready for about six years at Covent Garden, the Haymarket and Drury Lane successively . In 1844 he became co-lessee of Sadler's Wells Theatre with Thomas L . Greenwood and Mrs Mary Amelia Warner (1804-18J4) . Greenwood supplied the business capacity, Phelps was the theatrical manager, and Mrs 'Warner leading lady . In this position Phelps remained for twenty years, during which time he raised the Sadler's Wells house to an important position, PHENACETIN 363 and himself appeared in a very exsensive and varied repertory . Thirty-four of Shakespeare's plays were presented there under his direction, with great educational effect, both on public and players . In 1861 Greenwood retired from the partnership, and Phelps, unable to cope with the business of management, retired from it in the following year . For the next fifteen years he acted under various managements, achieving considerable success in some of Halliday's dramatic versions of Scott's novels, such as The Fortunes of Nigel and Ivanhoe .

His last appearance was in 1878 as

Wolsey in Henry VIII., and he died on the 6th of November 1878 . He was a sound and capable actor, rather than one of any marked genius; and, in spite of his predilection for tragedy, was most successful in such characters of comedy as called for dry humour . Perhaps Sir Pertinax Macsycophant in Charles Macklin's The Man of the World was his finest impersonation . He published an annotated edition of Shakespeare's plays (2 vols., 1852-1854) .