1. Wilson Barrett is remembered as an actor of handsome appearance and with a powerful voice.
11 Facts About Wilson Barrett
1. 2.
Wilson Barrett made his first appearance on the stage at Halifax in 1864, and then played in the provinces alone and with his wife, Caroline Heath, in East Lynne.
3.
Wilson Barrett capitalized on his early success as an actor to start a career as a producer.
4.
In 1881, Wilson Barrett took over the recently refurbished Princess's Theatre, where his melodramatic productions enjoyed great success, with attendance being the highest ever for this theatre.
5.
Wilson Barrett played this part for three hundred nights without a break, and repeated its success in W G Wills's Claudian.
6.
In 1886 Wilson Barrett left the Princess's Theatre, and in this same year he made a visit to America, repeated in later years.
7.
In 1884 Wilson Barrett had appeared in Hamlet, only to promptly return to melodrama.
8.
Wilson Barrett was not to find much success in any Shakespearian role, apart from Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet.
9.
Wilson Barrett was the producer of the performance of The Romany Rye which on its opening night turned into the Exeter Theatre Royal fire, which was the deadliest theatre incident in UK history, killing 186 people.
10.
Wilson Barrett tried to repeat this success with more plays of a religious type, though not with equal effect, and several of his later attempts were failures.
11.
Wilson Barrett died in a nursing home in London on 22 July 1904.