Thomas Potter Cooke (23 April 1786 – 10 April 1864) was an English actor.
Early life
He was born on 23 April 1786, in Titchfield Street,
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
, London; his father was a surgeon, who died when he was six years old. He sailed, under age, on board the sloop to
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
, and was present at the
Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797. After escaping drowning off
Cuxhaven
Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...
, where ''Raven'' was lost and the crew had to take refuge in the rigging, he reached England. He sailed again on board , carrying Rear-Admiral
Sir Robert Calder, to the blockade of
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
*Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
*Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
**Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Brest, ...
. The
Peace of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it se ...
of 1802 deprived Cooke of his naval occupation.
Actor and manager
In January 1804, Cooke made his stage ''début'' at the Royalty Theatre in
Wellclose Square
Wellclose Square is a public square in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, between Cable Street to the north and The Highway to the south.
The western edge, now called Ensign Street, was previously called Well Street. The southern edge was cal ...
. He was then engaged by Astley for
Astley's Amphitheatre
Astley's Amphitheatre was a performance venue in London opened by Philip Astley in 1773, considered the first modern circus ring. It was burned and rebuilt several times, and went through many owners and managers. Despite no trace of the theatr ...
where he appeared as
Lord Nelson
Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British people, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strate ...
. He subsequently played at the Lyceum, and then joined the company of
Henry Erskine Johnston
Henry Erskine Johnston (1777–1838?) was a Scottish actor given the sobriquet The Edinburgh Roscius.
.
Early life
Born in Edinburgh in May 1777 the son of a former barber on the High Street, his father was allegedly shaving Henry Erskine ...
, who opened a theatre in Peter Street, Dublin. In 1809 he was engaged by
Robert William Elliston
Robert William Elliston (7 April 1774 – 7 July 1831) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Life
He was born in London, the son of a watchmaker. He was educated at St Paul's School, but ran away from home and made his first appearance on ...
as stage manager of the Surrey Theatre, where he remained a favourite.
![Thomas Potter Cooke Whittock](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Thomas_Potter_Cooke_Whittock.jpg)
On 19 October 1816, Cooke appeared at Drury Lane as Diego Monez, an officer, in a
melodrama
A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...
, attributed to Robert Bell, and called ''Watchword, or the Quito Gate''. He then played some new characters, mainly foreigners, such as Monsieur Pas in the farce ''Each for Himself'', Almorad, a Moor, in ''Manuel'' by
Charles Maturin
Charles Robert Maturin, also known as C. R. Maturin (25 September 1780 – 30 October 1824), was an Irish Protestant clergyman (ordained in the Church of Ireland) and a writer of Gothic plays and novels.Chris Morgan, "Maturin, Charles R(obert). ...
, and Hans Ketzler in
George Soane
George Soane (1790–1860) was an English writer and dramatist.
Life
The younger son of John Soane, he was born in London. He graduated B.A. from Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1811. Shortly afterwards he married Agnes Boaden, against his par ...
's ''Castle Spectre''.
Career peak
On 9 August 1820, Cooke had major success at the Lyceum as
Lord Ruthven, the hero of ''
The Vampyre
"The Vampyre" is a short work of prose fiction written in 1819 by John William Polidori taken from the story Lord Byron told as part of a contest among Polidori, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. The same contest produced the novel '' ...
'', and in the following year strengthened his reputation as Dirk Hatteraick in the ''Witch of Derncleugh'', a version of ''
Guy Mannering
''Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer'' is the second of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott, published anonymously in 1815. According to an introduction that Scott wrote in 1829, he had originally intended to write a story of the supernatural, ...
'', George in ''The Miller's Maid'' (a melodrama of
John Faucit Saville
John Faucit Savill or Saville, also known as John Savill(e) Faucit, stage name Mr Faucit, (1783?–1853) was an English actor, playwright and theatre manager. He married Harriet Diddear, later known as Harriet Elizabeth Savill and as Mrs Faucit. ...
from
Robert Bloomfield
Robert Bloomfield (3 December 1766 – 19 August 1823) was an English labouring-class poet, whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers, such as Stephen Duck, Mary Collier and John Clare.
Life
Robert Bloomfield wa ...
), and
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...
in ''
Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein
''Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein'' is an 1823 play in three acts by Richard Brinsley Peake based on the 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' by Mary Shelley. It is the first recorded theatrical adaptation of the nove ...
'',
Richard Brinsley Peake
Richard Brinsley Peake (19 February 1792 – 4 October 1847) was a dramatist of the early nineteenth century best remembered today for his 1823 play '' Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein'', a work based on the novel ''Frankenstein'' ...
's 1823 adaptation of
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...
's novel ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...
''. Cooke then joined the Covent Garden Company, and played Zenocles in ''Ali Pacha'', by
John Howard Payne
John Howard Payne (June 9, 1791 – April 10, 1852) was an American actor, poet, playwright, and author who had nearly two decades of a theatrical career and success in London. He is today most remembered as the creator of "Home! Sweet Home ...
, on 19 October 1822,
Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
in ''Maid Marian'' on 3 December 1822, and other parts. When, in 1825,
Frederick Henry Yates
Frederick Henry Yates (4 February 1797 – 21 June 1842) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Life
Yates was born in London, the youngest son of Thomas Yates, a tobacco manufacturer, of Thames Street and Russell Square. Frederick was educ ...
and
Daniel Terry
Daniel Terry (1780?–1829) was an English actor and playwright, known also as a close associate of Sir Walter Scott.
Life
He was born in Bath about 1780, and was educated at the Bath grammar school and subsequently at a private school at Wingf ...
took the Adelphi, Cooke was engaged and played Long Tom Coffin in
Edward Fitzball
Edward Fitzball (20 March 179327 October 1873) was a popular English playwright, who specialised in melodrama. His real surname was Ball, and he was born at Burwell, Cambridgeshire.
Fitzball was educated in Newmarket, was apprenticed to a Nor ...
's drama ''The Pilot''. At the close of the season he visited Paris, and presented ''Le Monstre et le Magicien'' (again playing Frankenstein's monster) 80 successive nights at the Porte-Saint-Martin. In 1827 he was in Edinburgh, where he was frequently seen by
Christopher North, who called him "the best sailor out of all sight and hearing that ever trod the stage".
In 1828–9, Cooke was again at the Adelphi. His most conspicuous success was at the Surrey, on 8 June 1829, as William in
Douglas Jerrold
Douglas William Jerrold (London 3 January 18038 June 1857 London) was an English dramatist and writer.
Biography
Jerrold's father, Samuel Jerrold, was an actor and lessee of the little theatre of Wilsby near Cranbrook in Kent. In 1807 Dougla ...
's ''
Black-Eyed Susan
''Black-Eyed Susan; or, All in the Downs'' is a comic play in three acts by Douglas Jerrold. The story concerns a heroic sailor, William, who has been away from England for three years fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Meanwhile, his wife, Susa ...
''.
[''The Evening Standard'' 9 June 1829 p. 1.] After playing it over 100 nights there, he was engaged to appear in the play 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 ...
, where he remained until 1834, when
Alfred Bunn
Alfred Bunn (April 8, 1796 in LondonDecember 20, 1860 in Boulogne-sur-Mer) was an English theatrical manager. He was married to Margaret Agnes (née Somerville) Bunn, a minor actress, in 1819.
Biography
Bunn was appointed stage manager of D ...
, who managed both theatres, transferred him to Drury Lane. Two years later he returned to Covent Garden, to act under Osbaldistone.
Last years
![Thomas Potter Cooke Baugniet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Thomas_Potter_Cooke_Baugniet.jpg)
In October 1857, Cooke played as a star at the Standard. For the Jerrold Remembrance Night (29 July 1857) he appeared at the Adelphi as William. His last appearance was at Covent Garden, for the benefit of the
Royal Dramatic College
The Royal Dramatic College was a home for retired actors in Woking, England; it was opened by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1865, and closed because of financial difficulty in 1877.
Origins of the College
On 21 July 1858, at the Princ ...
, on 29 October 1860, when he once more played William in a selection from ''Black-Eyed Susan''.
Cooke died on 10 April 1864, at 37 Thurloe Square, the house of his son-in-law. After the death of his wife, a few months before his own, he had given up his own houses in Woburn Square and at
Ryde
Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...
. He was buried in
Brompton cemetery
Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...
.
By his will Cooke left £2,000 to the Royal Dramatic College, the interest of which was to be paid for a prize nautical drama. ''True to the Core'', by Angiolo Robson Slous, was played on 8 January 1866.
Notes
;Attribution
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Thomas
1786 births
1864 deaths
19th-century English male actors
English male stage actors
English sailors
English theatre managers and producers
Male actors from London
Burials at Brompton Cemetery
19th-century British businesspeople