Thomas Betterton facts for kids
Thomas Patrick Betterton (born August 1635 – died 28 April 1710) was a very important actor and theatre manager in England. He lived during a time called the Restoration period. Thomas was born in London. His father worked as a cook for King Charles I.
Becoming an Actor
Thomas Betterton was born in August 1635 in Westminster, London. He started learning about theatre from John Holden, who published books for Sir William Davenant. He might also have learned from John Rhodes, who looked after costumes at the Blackfriars Theatre.
In 1659, John Rhodes started a new acting group at the Cockpit Theatre in Drury Lane. When this theatre opened again in 1660, Betterton performed on stage for the first time.
Thomas was very talented and quickly became famous. He was given the main roles in plays. In 1661, a new theatre opened in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Davenant, who ran the Duke's Company, hired Betterton and all of Rhodes's actors. They performed in Davenant's play, The Siege of Rhodes. Also in 1661, Betterton played Prince Alvaro in Davenant's Love and Honour.
Betterton was popular with the public and also with King Charles II. The King sent him to Paris to see new ideas for stages there. When Betterton came back, he helped bring new stage designs to England. This was the first time that moving scenes were used instead of just tapestries (big wall hangings).
In 1662, he married an actress named Mary Saunderson (who died in 1712). She played important female roles in Shakespeare's plays. Thomas and Mary acted together in Hamlet, where she played Ophelia and he played Hamlet. Mary was also a trusted helper and business partner to her husband.
Famous people like Pepys, Pope, and Steele all praised his acting. Betterton played many roles from Shakespeare's plays. Some of these plays were changed by writers like Davenant and Dryden. Even though these changed versions were not always liked, Betterton's acting was still highly praised. For example, he played Lear in a changed version of Shakespeare's King Lear. Betterton also wrote some popular plays himself.
Actor and Theatre Manager
After Davenant died in 1668, Betterton became the main manager of the Duke's Company. In 1682, London's two theatre companies joined together. Betterton continued to manage this new United Company.
The actors were not happy with their working conditions. So, in 1695, the top actors, led by Betterton, left and started their own company. This new company opened with a play called Love for Love by Congreve. Betterton played the role of Valentine.
After a few years, the new company's profits went down. Betterton was getting older and had gout. He decided to stop acting. At his last big performance, he played Valentine in Love for Love. He earned a lot of money from this show, over £500.
Betterton's career was very important for theatre during the Restoration period. At one point, fewer people were going to the theatre. To make theatre exciting again, he created new stage machines at the Dorset Garden Theatre. He also turned the play The Prophetess into an opera. He brought French singers and dancers to the English stage.
He also built the first permanent theatre that had Italian-style stage machinery. He helped change a tennis court in Lincoln's Inn Fields into a new theatre. Because of this, he also earned a small "rent" fee for each show performed there.
Betterton worked with all the important playwrights of his time. He also worked with the first English actresses. Most actors back then tended to play only certain types of characters. But Betterton played more than 120 different roles. These included serious dramas, comedies, and plays by Shakespeare. Even at 75 years old, he said he was "yet learning to be an actor." The first guide to acting in English, The Life of Mr Thomas Betterton, was written about him.
Betterton's new ideas for stage scenery and theatre management helped shape English theatre culture.
He performed almost until the day he died. Three days before he passed away at age 75, he made his last appearance on stage in 1710. He played Melantius in The Maid's Tragedy. He died shortly after and was buried in Westminster Abbey. His acting career lasted 50 years, from 1659 to 1710. Thomas Betterton's death marked the end of an important era in theatre.
Key Roles
- Prince Alvaro in Love and Honour (1661)
- Hamlet (1661)
- Welford in Squire Oldsapp (1678)
- King Lear in Nahum Tate's King Lear (1681)
- Jaffeir in Venice Preserv’d (1682)
- Valentine in Love for Love (1695)
- Tamerlane by Nicholas Rowe (1701)
- Melantius in The Maid's Tragedy (1710)
See also
In Spanish: Thomas Betterton para niños
