Thomas Barry (1743-1768) was an Irish

stage actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

and

theatre manager Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. He was the son of the actor

Spranger Barry Spranger Barry (23 November 1719 – 10 January 1777) was an Irish actor. Life He was born in Skinner's Row, Dublin, the son of a silversmith, to whose business he was brought up. He took over the business but was not successful. His fir ...

and his first wife Anne. In 1761 he made his debut at the

Theatre Royal, Cork The Theatre Royal was a patent theatre located in Cork City, Ireland. History The Theatre Royal was founded by local actor Spranger Barry in 1760. It was modelled on the Crow Street Theatre, Dublin. In 1766 when he left for London, Barry contr ...

, which had been established by his father. He continued to act there for the next five years, also appearing in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

at the

Crow Street Theatre Crow Street Theatre was a theatre in Dublin, Ireland, originally opened in 1758 by the actor Spranger Barry. From 1788 until 1818 it was a patent theatre. History Spranger Barry and Henry Woodward The actor Spranger Barry (1719–1777), born i ...

. When his father departed for London in 1766 he left Thomas to manage the Cork Theatre, something that proved controversial with the local newspapers. Angered by an attack on his acting skills, Barry sued one of the publishers involved for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

but the case was dismissed. He was in turn briefly imprisoned for his conduct towards the publisher before the case was dropped. Having made many enemies in his native Cork, the following year Thomas Barry left for

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and in the summer of 1767 he joined his father and stepmother Ann Dancer 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 ...

where he appeared in ''

Venice Preserved ''Venice Preserv'd'' is an English Restoration play written by Thomas Otway, and the most significant tragedy of the English stage in the 1680s. It was first staged in 1682, with Thomas Betterton as Jaffeir and Elizabeth Barry as Belvidera. The ...

'', ''

Jane Shore Elizabeth "Jane" Shore (née Lambert) (c. 1445 – c. 1527) was one of the many mistresses of King Edward IV of England. She became the best-known to history through being later accused of conspiracy by the future King Richard III, and compelled ...

'', ''

Theodosius Theodosius ( Latinized from the Greek "Θεοδόσιος", Theodosios, "given by god") is a given name. It may take the form Teodósio, Teodosie, Teodosije etc. Theodosia is a feminine version of the name. Emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium ...

'', ''

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 ''

The Countess of Salisbury ''The Countess of Salisbury'' is a 1767 tragedy by Hall Hartson.Watson p.835 It is inspired by the 1762 novel ''Longsword'' by Irish writer Thomas Leland, who had been Hartson's tutor. It is based on the life of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Sa ...

''. Again questions were raised about his acting style, which was compared unfavourably with his fathers. He then travelled to

, but grew increasingly ill and died in the city in April 1768. After his death his wife appeared on the stage.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.352-53

References

Bibliography

* Clark, William Smith. ''The Irish Stage in the County Towns, 1720-1800''. Clarendon Press, 1965. * Highfill, Philip H, Burnim, Kalman A. & Langhans, Edward A. ''A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: Volume I''. SIU Press, 1978. 1743 deaths 1768 deaths Irish male stage actors 18th-century British male actors 18th-century Irish male actors Irish theatre managers and producers Male actors from Cork (city) Irish emigrants to Kingdom of Great Britain {{Ireland-actor-stub