Samuel Houghton Cowell (5 April 1820 – 11 March 1864) was an actor and singer of
comical songs. He was born in England and raised in the United States.
Biography
Born in London, he was the son of
Joseph Cowell, a British actor who took him to the United States in 1822.
[J. W. Ebsworth, 'Cowell, Samuel Houghton (1820–1864)', rev. Nilanjana Banerji, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004] He was educated in a military academy near
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, and worked as a child actor in the United States. He first appeared there aged nine in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
as Crack in ''The Turnpike Gate'', a play by Thomas Knight, in which he sang a duet with his father "When off in curricle we go".
Thereafter, he appeared at many major theatres in America, hailed as "the young
American Roscius".
He also appeared in Shakespeare plays, notably in the ''Comedy of Errors'' playing one of twin brothers, with his father playing the other.
At the age of 20, he returned to Britain, first to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
where he became a successful actor working for his uncle W. H. Murray, who managed the
Theatre Royal and the Adelphi there.
He also succeeded as a comic singer in
entr'actes,
and by the late 1840s concentrated entirely on singing.
[Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.8-9] As his career developed, he became primarily a
music hall artist, performing comical songs and
burlesques in London
song and supper room
A song and supper room was a dining club in mid-nineteenth century Victorian England in which entertainment and good food were provided. They provided an alternative to formal theatre and music hall with a convivial atmosphere in which the custo ...
s. Songs that he made famous included "The Ratcatcher's Daughter" and "
Villikins and his Dinah".
[Obituary: ''New York Times'', 3 April 1863]
Cowell became extremely popular and successful, and is credited with establishing the music hall, a new form of entertainment.
He appeared twice before Queen Victoria at her court theatricals.
According to music hall historian Harold Scott, Cowell was "a vividly remembered personality..
horanks.. among the greatest exponents of entertainment."
[Harold Scott, ''The Early Doors: Origins of the Music Hall'', Nicholson & Watson, 1946, pp.120-121]
He toured throughout England, staging a concert almost every night between 1857 and 1859. His schedule led to overwork, and to alcohol dependence.
[ In 1860, he returned to America to tour, again with a very busy schedule. His health, previously robust, began to break down;][
He developed ]consumption
Consumption may refer to:
*Resource consumption
*Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically
* Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms
* Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
after his return to London in 1862. He continued to act in the provinces. Eventually his failing health made it impossible for him to continue performing and, in 1863, he was declared bankrupt. He moved with his family to stay with friends in Blandford Forum, Dorset, to recuperate.
Sam Cowell died in the following March and was buried in the cemetery at Blandford Forum, where there is a monument to him erected by his friends.
/ref>
References
Further reading
*Emilie Marguerite Ebsworth Cowell: ''The Cowells in America; Being the Diary of Mrs. Sam Cowell during Her Husband's Concert Tour in the Years 1860-1861'' M. Wilson Disher (ed.), Oxford University Press, 1934
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowell, Sam
American male child actors
English male stage actors
Music hall performers
1820 births
1864 deaths
19th-century English male actors
English male child actors