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Ernesto Rossi (27 March 1827 – 4 June 1896) was an Italian actor and playwright.
Rossi was born in Livorno to a middle-class family and was intending to study at the university there when he substituted for an actor in the Calloud theatre company who had become ill. After his successful performance, he continued performing with the company until it was dissolved in 1848. In 1852 he joined the Reale Sarda theatre company and became its leading actor. He toured Italy and Paris with Adelaide Ristori until personal differences led to the end of their theatrical partnership, and Majeroni became her leading man.
Rossi went on to perform throughout Europe, including London, Vienna, Lisbon, and Moscow. He was particularly admired for his Shakespearean roles as Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Hamlet. Rossi also wrote several plays, the first of which, Adele, premiered with Adelaide Ristori in the title role.
In May 1896, he was playing King Lear in Odessa when he fell ill and was brought back to Italy, where he died a few weeks later in Pescara.
The Tragedy of King Lear, often shortened to King Lear, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between his daughters Goneril and Regan, who pay homage to gain favour, feigning love. The King's third daughter, Cordelia, is offered a third of his kingdom also, but refuses to be insincere in her praise and affection. She instead offers the respect of a daughter and is disowned by Lear who seeks flattery. Regan and Goneril subsequently break promises to host Lear and his entourage, so he opts to become homeless and destitute, and goes insane. The French King married to Cordelia then invades Britain to restore order and Lear's rule. In a subplot, Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, betrays his brother and father. Tragically, Lear, Cordelia and several other main characters die.
Sir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor. He is best known for his Shakespearean roles, especially King Lear. He often appeared in film, rising from a bit part actor to leading roles; by the time of his death he had appeared in nearly 140 films. His later work was predominantly in television and radio.
Richard Burbage was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owner, entrepreneur, and painter. He was the younger brother of Cuthbert Burbage. They were both actors in drama. Burbage was a business associate and friend to William Shakespeare.
Edmund Kean was a British Shakespearean actor, who performed, among other places, in London, Belfast, New York, Quebec, and Paris. He was known for his short stature, tumultuous personal life, and controversial divorce.
Thomas Betterton, the leading male actor and theatre manager during Restoration England, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London.
The Lord Chamberlain's Men was a company of actors, or a "playing company", for which William Shakespeare wrote during most of his career. Richard Burbage played most of the lead roles, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Formed at the end of a period of flux in the theatrical world of London, it had become, by 1603, one of the two leading companies of the city and was subsequently patronized by James I.
Sir Antony Sher was a British actor, writer and theatre director of South African origin. A two-time Laurence Olivier Award winner and a four-time nominee, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 and toured in many roles, as well as appearing on film and television. In 2001, he starred in his cousin Ronald Harwood's play Mahler's Conversion, and said that the story of a composer sacrificing his faith for his career echoed his own identity struggles.
Adelaide Ristori was a distinguished Italian tragedienne, who was often referred to as the Marquise.
Tommaso Salvini was an Italian actor.
Paolo Giacometti (1816–1882) was an Italian dramatist born at Novi Ligure. He was educated in law at Genoa, but at the age of twenty had some success with his play Rosilda and then devoted himself to the stage. Depressed circumstances made him attach himself as author to various touring Italian companies, and his output was considerable; moreover, such actors as Ristori, Rossi and Salvini made many of these plays great successes. Among the best of them were La Donna (1850), La Donna in seconde nozze (1851), Giuditta (1857), Sofocle (1860). La Morte civile (1861). A collection of his works was published at Milan in eight volumes . His Marie Antoinette was written expressly for Ristori, and first staged in New York.
Thousands of performances of William Shakespeare's plays have been staged since the end of the 16th century. While Shakespeare was alive, many of his greatest plays were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men and King's Men acting companies at the Globe and Blackfriars Theatres. Among the actors of these original performances were Richard Burbage, Richard Cowley, and William Kempe.
The Duke's Company was a theatre company chartered by King Charles II at the start of the Restoration era, 1660. Sir William Davenant was manager of the company under the patronage of Prince James, Duke of York. During that period, theatres began to flourish again after they had been closed from the restrictions throughout the English Civil War and the Interregnum. The Duke's Company existed from 1660 to 1682, when it merged with the King's Company to form the United Company.
Petros Heronimosi Adamian was an Armenian actor, poet, writer, artist and public figure who worked in the Ottoman and Russian empires. He was famed for his Shakespearean roles, especially Hamlet, Othello and King Lear.
Robert Leadam Eddison, OBE was an English actor, who despite his lengthy career as a classical stage actor, is probably most widely remembered in the role of the Grail Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He also played Merlin in the BBC television series The Legend of King Arthur, and the tragic ferryman in The Storyteller episode "The Luck Child".
Mario Majeroni (1870–1931) was an Italian-born American playwright and stage and film actor.
Mark Leonard Winter is an Australian actor, known for performances in film, television and on stage.
Maurice Hermann Grau was an Austrian-born American impressario, opera director, and theatre manager and producer. The Americana: A Universal Reference Library stated that "from 1872 until 1903 [Grau] was the most prominent operatic manager in America". He was a named partner in the US theatre management and production firm Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau which managed numerous theaters in Boston and New York City, including the Metropolitan Opera House. As part of this firm Grau co-managed the Metropolitan Opera from 1891 until Abbey's death in 1896 when he took over sole management of the Met. He remained the manager of the Met until 1903 when he retired. He was also concurrently the manager of the Royal Opera House in London from 1897-1900.
Eduardo Majeroni was an actor who toured the world with Adelaide Ristori, playing popular Italian dramas in their original language. He and his wife Giulia, a niece of Ristori, left the company in Australia and carved out a career playing the same repertoire in English translations. Giulia was an actress, and their two sons Mario and George had acting careers in America.
Osmond Tearle was an English actor. He set up a touring company that performed in the provinces of England; he also appeared in America. He was known for Shakespearean roles, particularly Hamlet.
Teresa Mariani was an Italian actress.