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Ludwig Devrient (15 December 178430 December 1832) was a German actor, noted for his playing in the works of
Ludwig Devrient (15 December 178430 December 1832) was a German actor, noted for his playing in the works of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
and Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...
.
Devrient, who was born in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, left a commercial career for the stage in 1804. He joined a travelling theatrical company, and made his first appearance on the stage at Gera
Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...
as the messenger in Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...
's '' Braut von Messina''. By the interest of Count Brühl, he appeared at Rudolstadt
Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north.
The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...
as Franz Moor in Schiller's ''Die Räuber
''The Robbers'' (', ) is the first drama by German playwright Friedrich Schiller. The play was published in 1781 and premiered on 13 January 1782 in Mannheim, Germany, and was inspired by Leisewitz' earlier play ''Julius of Taranto''. It was ...
'', so successfully that he obtained a permanent engagement at the ducal theatre in Dessau
Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...
, where he played until 1809. He then received a call to Breslau, where he remained for six years. Such was his success in the title-parts of several of Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
plays, that the leading actor August Wilhelm Iffland
August Wilhelm Iffland (19 April 175922 September 1814) was a German actor and dramatic author.
Life
Born in Hanover, his father intended him to be a clergyman, but Iffland preferred the stage, and at eighteen ran away to Gotha in order to prep ...
began to fear for his own reputation; yet that artist was generous enough to recommend the young actor as his only possible successor. On Iffland's death, Devrient was summoned to Berlin, where he was for fifteen years the popular idol. He died there in December 1832.
Ludwig Devrient was equally adept in comedy and tragedy. Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
, Franz Moor (in ''Die Räuber''), Shylock
Shylock is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Merchant of Venice'' (c. 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal antagonist. His defeat and conversion to Christianity form the climax of the ...
, King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...
and Richard II
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...
were among his best parts. Karl von Holtei in his ''Reminiscences'' gave a graphic picture of him and the "demoniac fascination" of his acting. He also wrote several plays and a history of the German stage (1848–74) in five volumes. With his son, Otto
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded fro ...
, he published translations of Shakespeare's plays.
Devrient was a member of a notable theatrical family, his three nephews all being actors. Karl August Devrient
Karl August Devrient (5 April 17973 August 1872) was a German stage actor best known for performances of Schiller and Shakespeare. He was related to other notable German actors, including:
* his uncle Ludwig;
* his brothers Philipp Eduard and ...
(1797–1872) was popular in heroic and character roles such as Lear, Shylock, and Faust. Another nephew, Eduard Devrient
(Philipp) Eduard Devrient (11 August 18014 October 1877) was a German baritone, librettist, playwright, actor, theatre director, and theatre reformer and historian.
Devrient came from a theatrical family. His uncle was Ludwig Devrient and his b ...
(1801–1877), directed the Court Theatre, Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
(1844–46), and the Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
Theatre (1852–70). Gustav Emil Devrient
Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to:
*Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film
* ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...
(1803–1872), was the youngest and most gifted of all three nephews of Ludwig Devrient.
Notes
References
* Endnotes: * Z. Funck, ''Aus dem Leben zweier Schauspieler, Ifflands und Devrients'' (Leipzig, 1838) * H. Smidt in ''Devrient-Novellen'' (3rd ed., Berlin, 1882) * R. Springer in the novel ''Devrient und Hoffmann'' (Berlin, 1873) * Eduard Devrient's ''Geschichte der deutschen Schauspielkunst'' (Leipzig, 1861)Further reading
* * 1784 births 1832 deaths German male stage actors Male actors from Berlin 18th-century German male actors People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg Iffland-Ring People from the Kingdom of Prussia {{Germany-stage-actor-stub