William Warren

Background

William Warren was a native of Bath, England, the son of Philip Warren, a cabinet-maker.

Career

Scorning the efforts of his father to teach him his trade, he made his stage début with a small provincial company at the age of seventeen as Young Norval in Douglas. Trained in the rough surroundings of inferior traveling troupes, he finally emerged from a wandering life of hardship and slow advancement. At one time he was in the company of Thomas Jefferson, the founder of a famous stage family. In 1788, when he was under engagement with Tate Wilkinson, one of the leading provincial managers of that day, he had the good fortune to act in support of Mrs. Siddons. In 1796, upon the invitation of Thomas Wignell, he set out for the United States, arriving in the autumn of that year. He acted in Baltimore, and then in Philadelphia, where he appeared for the first time on December 5 as Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet and as Bundle in The Waterman. A visit with the Wignell company to New York soon followed, but his associations with the theatre were almost exclusively, both as actor and manager, in Baltimore and Philadelphia. For sometime he was in partnership with William Burke Wood. At their theatre in Philadelphia, Edwin Forrest made his début as Young Norval, with Warren as Old Norval; and both Edmund Kean and Junius Brutus Booth acted under their management when they first came to America. Warren was essentially a comedian, especially adept at the acting of old men, but he was equally capable in tragedy. Joseph N. Ireland calls him "the most perfect 'old man' of comedy or tragedy then known in America"; William Winter speaks of "the weight, dignity and rich humor" of his Old Dornton and Sir Robert Bramble, and of his notable Falstaff and Sir Toby Belch. Few American managers ever carried for so many years the double burden of management and the acting of important characters. After a long period of prosperity, Warren's last years were filled with sadness because of his ill health and disappointment because of his business reverses. In December 1829 he retired from management and acted only occasionally thereafter. Returning to the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia for a brief engagement, he made his farewell stage appearance on November 25, 1831, as Sir Robert Bramble in The Poor Gentleman, being scarcely able to finish the part because of loss of memory. After almost a year of comparative seclusion, he died in Baltimore, where he had made his home during his last months.

Achievements

• His first appearance was as Young Norval in Home's tragedy of Douglas. Warren became manager of the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he made his last appearance on 25 November 1829 as Robert Bramble in the Poor Gentleman.

Connections

He was three times married. His first wife, of whom little is known and who was not an actress, accompanied him to America and died not long after. On August 15, 1806, he married Ann Brunton Merry. In 1809 he married Esther Fortune, whose elder sister Euphemia was the wife of Joseph Jefferson, 1774-1832. All their six children were connected with the theatre.

Father:

Philip Warren

Spouse:

Esther Fortune

Spouse:

Ann Brunton Merry

child:

Hester

child:

Henry

child:

William

child:

Mary Ann

child:

Emma

child:

Anna