Online Encyclopedia

WILLIAM SMITH (c. 1730-1819)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 270 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WILLIAM SMITH (c. 1730-1819)  ,
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English actor, the son of a city tea merchant, was educated at
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Eton and went up to Cam-
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bridge, but his wild pranks soon ended his college career and brought him back to
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London . His first stage appearance was in 1753 at Covent Garden, where he remained for twenty years, playing important parts . In 1774 he was at Drury Lane under Garrick's management . His forte was gay
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comedy, and he was the
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original, indeed unrivalled, Charles
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Surface . It was in this
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part that he made his farewell appearance in 1788 . He died on the 13th of September 1819 . His sporting tastes and social connexions—he married the.
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sister of a peer—led to his being called " Gentleman Smith," a
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sobriquet his manners seem to have justified . He is to be distinguished from an older English actor, William Smith (d . 1696), the friend of Betterton .

End of Article: WILLIAM SMITH (c. 1730-1819)
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