Background
Thorne was born in New York City of a merchant family in 1814. His father may have been Thomas W. Thorne.
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Charles Robert Thorne
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If the date which is generally given for his birth is correct, his precocity was remarkable, for on April 23, 1829, billed as "a young gentleman in this city, " he made his "first appearance on any stage" as Octavian at the Park Theatre, New York. On Apr. 28 he played the difficult rôle of Pierre in Otway's Venice Preserved, and on Apr. 30 had a benefit. In December 1830 he acted Pythias to Thomas Hamblin's Damon at the Bowery, and later played the title rôle in Pizarro.
On May 4, 1831, Thorne appears as "proprietor" of the Chatham Theatre. The New York Mirror of June 11, 1831, praises his Pizarro as displaying "force and expression, " though wanting "study, practice, and observation. " November 1831 found him and his wife at the new theatre on Richmond Hill.
During the next few years, like most other actors save those at the Park, Thorne drifted from one house to another and took part in an unbelievable number of plays. In February 1835 he was back at the Bowery, playing Glaucus in The Last Days of Pompeii, which ran from February 9 to March 7, a New York record at that time. In June 1836 he was at the Franklin on Chatham Square; in November he supported James Henry Hackett at the Bowery in Horse-Shoe Robinson and later the elder James Wallack in Sardanapalus. On November 27, 1837, he played Wellborn to the elder Booth's Sir Giles Overreach in A New Way to Pay Old Debts at the Olympic. On December 18, 1837, he was again at the Bowery, where on January 2, 1838, he rode the "fiery, untamed steed" in Mazeppa.
In the late summer of 1838 he managed the little Olympic and in February 1840 took over the Chatham, where he enjoyed success for two years but failed the third. His failure has been attributed to lack of any sustained policy; his seasons were hodge-podges. From this time on his New York appearances grew fewer, and the intervening gaps represent tours made by Thorne and his wife, or attempts at management in other cities. He acted, February 19, 1844, in Thérèse and The Swiss Cottage at the Bowery Amphitheatre; on December 4, 1848, he and his wife acted Don Cæsar de Bazan at Chanfrau's National; at the ill-fated Astor Place opera house, February 22, 1851, he and Chanfrau had a benefit (in the midst of opera); and from August 30, 1852, till September 14, he attempted to manage that house, without success.
Beginning August 1, 1853, he attempted to manage a season at the St. Charles. Finally, in 1874, he rented old Niblo's from A. T. Stewart for three years at $35, 000 a year, and attempted to create "an American Drury Lane. " In 1847, between New York engagements, he and his wife managed the old Boston Theatre on Federal Street, and for a brief time the Howard Athenaeum. In 1849 they went to California; again in 1853 they toured to San Francisco, and thence to the Orient and around the world, being absent many years on an adventurous if not very profitable tour.
Ten years later he died in San Francisco.
Achievements
Personality
He was good-looking and graceful, and his rather round, healthy face was expressive.
Connections
In 1830 he married Maria Ann Mestayer, who was of a well-known theatrical and circus family. This is enough, even in those days of juvenile prodigies, to cause some wonder; however, it should be noted that one of his sons was later to exhibit a similar precocity.
In 1880 they celebrated their golden wedding.
He and his first wife (d. 1881) had five children, among them Charles Robert. In 1883 he married the widow of James Stark, an actor.
References
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Born
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Died
February 13, 1893 (aged 79) -
Nationality
American