Sarah West (22 March 1790 – 30 December 1876) was a British actress.

Life

She was born Sarah Cooke in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

on 22 March 1790, daughter of Mr. Cooke of Bath. Influenced by her cousin

Harriet Waylett Harriet Waylett (7 February 1798 – 29 April 1851) was an English actress and theatre manager. Early life The daughter of a tradesman in Bath, Somerset, Harriet Waylett, née Cooke, was born there in 1798. Her uncle was a member of the Drury L ...

, she appeared at the

Theatre Royal, Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...

on 22 May 1810 for the benefit of her uncle, an actor, playing Miss Hardcastle in ''

She Stoops to Conquer ''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays from the 18th ...

'', and in 1811, at the same house, played Emily Tempest in ''The Wheel of Fortune''. In the summer of 1812, she played at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. Recommended by Mr. and Mrs.

Charles Kemble Charles Kemble (25 November 1775 – 12 November 1854) was a Welsh-born English actor of a prominent theatre family. Life Charles Kemble was one of 13 siblings and the youngest son of English Roman Catholic theatre manager/actor Roger Kemble ...

, she made, as Miss Cooke, her first appearance at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

on 28 September 1812 as Desdemona. On 10 November 1814, she played Juliet at Edinburgh. She was followed there by William West (see below), and in March 1815 they married. On 30 September 1815, as "Mrs. W. West (late Miss Cooke) from Edinburgh", she reappeared in Bath. On 17 September 1818, she made as Desdemona her first appearance at

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

. Leading business, principally tragic, was now assigned her. After the death of Alexander Rae, the Edgar to her Cordelia and the Lear of

Edmund Kean Edmund Kean (4 November 178715 May 1833) was a celebrated British Shakespearean stage actor born in England, who performed, among other places, in London, Belfast, New York, Quebec, and Paris. He was known for his short stature, tumultuo ...

, she spoke an address for the benefit of his family on 31 October 1820. It was thought an example of her dramatic intelligence that she avoided the last line, which was to be "pardon Cordelia's tears, they're shed for Rae". Conscious of its bathos, she substituted for it, with great effect, the line, "Pardon Cordelia's tears. Poor Tom's a cold." West was at Drury Lane the first Beaumelle in an alteration of ''The Fatal Dowry'' on 5 January 1824. When the record in

John Genest John Genest (1764–1839) was an English clergyman and theatre historian. Life He was the son of John Genest of Dunker's Hill, Devon. He was educated at Westminster School, entered 9 May 1780 as a pensioner at Trinity College, Cambridge, and gra ...

's history stops, information concerning her becomes scanty. It appears she was in a relationship with Leman Rede by 1830, a newspaper report on his death in 1847 states that they 'were united in 1830 and he left a ten year old son by that lady'. In 1835 she was at Covent Garden under David Osbaldiston, but played mainly secondary parts, and she then lapsed into performing at lesser theatres. Her last London engagement was at the Marylebone Theatre in about 1847. Sarah West died at

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on 30 December 1876 at the house of her great-nephew, Henry Courte Cooke, and was buried at

Sighthill cemetery Sighthill Cemetery is an active cemetery in central Glasgow, Scotland dating from 1840. It has an operational crematorium. It lies within the Sighthill neighbourhood on the A803 Springburn Road between Cowlairs Park and Petershill Park, north of ...

on 2 January 1877.

Assessment

Sarah West in her time was classed next to Elizabeth O'Neill, as a capable actress.

William Oxberry William Oxberry (1784–1824) was an English actor. He also wrote extensively on the theatre, and was a printer and publisher. Early life Oxberry was the son of an auctioneer, born on 18 December 1784 in Moorfields, London, opposite Bedlam. Af ...

's ''Dramatic Biography'' called her one of the most beautiful women on the stage.

Family

Her husband, William West (1796?–1888), comedian and musical composer, lived to be called "The Father of the Stage". Through jealousy, Sarah West separated early from William, by whom she had two children, and never rejoined him. West's father was connected with

. After studying music under Thomas Welsh and subsequently under

Charles Edward Horn Charles Edward Horn (21 June 1786 – 21 October 1849) was an English composer and singer. Life and career Horn was born in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, to Charles Frederick Horn and his wife, Diana Dupont. He was the eldest of their seven ...

, he appeared at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

in 1805 as Tom Thumb. He then played parts at Drury Lane such as Juba in ''The Prize'' and Boy in ''Children in the Wood''. In 1814 he followed Sarah to Edinburgh, and next year married her, in the teeth of much competition. West's first appearance in Edinburgh was on 10 November 1814 as Don Carlos in ''

The Duenna ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. After playing in Bath and Bristol he appeared in London at the East London Theatre, and on 9 May 1822 played, at Drury Lane, Lord Ogleby in the ''Clandestine Marriage''. He also acted at the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and other theatres. He gave in 1842 an entertainment based on the Shakespearean clown. West died late in January or early in February 1888. He wrote some popular songs: ''When Love was fresh from her Cradle-bed'', ''Alice of Fyfe'', and ''Love and the Sensitive Plant''. His glees included ''The Ocean King'', ''Up Rosalie'', ''Oh, Bold Robin Hood'', and ''The Haaf Fishers''. ''Maid Marian'' was a sonata, and he also wrote ''An Ancient English Morris Dance with Variations''.

References

;Attribution

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Sarah British stage actresses 1790 births 1876 deaths 19th-century English actresses 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Bath, Somerset