Background
Thomas Wignell was the son of J. Wignell, an inferior actor in Garrick's company. He was apprenticed to the business of seal cutting, but abandoned it for his father's vocation.
Actor comedian theatrical manager
Thomas Wignell was the son of J. Wignell, an inferior actor in Garrick's company. He was apprenticed to the business of seal cutting, but abandoned it for his father's vocation.
In the fall of 1774 he was sent out to join the American Company by his cousin, the actor Lewis Hallam, who was then in England. On the day after his arrival, information was received that the Continental Congress had recommended the cessation of all public amusements. Consequently, without appearing on the American stage, he accompanied his fellow-actors to Jamaica, where he followed his profession for ten years. Apparently his first performance in America occurred on November 21, 1785, when the company resumed its activities in New York. He had aspirations toward membership in the firm of Hallam and Henry, the managers of the company, but John Henry, a rival comedian, vigorously opposed his rise to power. When Wignell discovered that Hallam, though outwardly his friend, was also thwarting his aims, he resigned his position in the spring of 1791 and entered into partnership with Alexander Reinagle, a prominent musician of Philadelphia, preparatory to forming an organization of his own. Arrangements were made for them to occupy a theatre about to be built in Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, and Wignell went to England to secure players. On his return in 1793, bringing with him the best group of actors America had yet seen, he found awaiting his occupancy the new Chestnut Street Theatre, which far surpassed in size and splendor every other house in the United States. After a delay caused by yellow fever, it was opened on Feburary 17, 1794. The first season was a distinguished one, the acting, music, and scenic effects all being superior to those of the old American Company, which was now centering its efforts on New York. To extend their domain, Wignell and Reinagle built a theatre in Baltimore in 1794, and there a preliminary season was annually conducted. In 1796 Wignell again went to England for reënforcements and engaged, among others, Ann Brunton Merry and Thomas Abthorpe Cooper. The next several seasons at Philadelphia were the most brilliant of their time. In 1797 Wignell and Reinagle conducted a notable summer campaign in New York, but they lost heavily, and the experiment was not repeated. Summer tours, however, were made to other cities, including Washington, where Wignell opened the town's first theatre in 1800. But in spite of the continuous activity of the company, the directors were often in financial difficulties, partly because they heavily stressed the very expensive business of operatic production. He died of infection resulting from a blood-letting operation. He is said to have been about fifty years old. He was accorded an imposing funeral by his fellowtownsmen, who esteemed him as a generous and honorable man.
With his short, athletic figure, stooping shoulders, and bow legs, he was well qualified physically for low comedy, but he was also competent in high comedy, Joseph Surface in The School for Scandal being one of his most popular characters.
Quotes from others about the person
William Dunlap, who knew him well, says: "His comedy was luxuriant in humour, but always faithful to his author. He was a comic actor, not a buffoon".
On January 1, 1803, Wignell married Mrs. Merry, who had been a widow for some years.
