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Sothern (EDWARD ASKEW)

EDWARD ASKEW, an English-American comedian; born in Liverpool, England, April 1, 1826. Declining the Church, medicine, or the bar, in 1849 he joined a company of players in Jersey, and soon afterward passed into the stock company of the Theater Royal, Birmingham. From 1852 he appeared in the United States, without much success, till in 1858 "Our American Cousin," by Tom Taylor, was brought out in New York, with Sothern cast for the small part (47 lines) of Lord Dundreary.

The piece was a poor thing, and the character of the English peer as playgoers know it was Sothern's own creation, bit by bit. In November, 1861, the play was produced in London at the Haymarket and ran for over 500 nights; and it was again and again revived in later years. Sothern essayed many other characters, but he is remembered chiefly as Dundreary; his other most memorable parts were David Garrick in Robertson's comedy, and perhaps Fitzaltamont in "The Crushed Tragedian"; the latter failed utterly in England, but was always popular in America, whither Sothern returned several times. He died in London, Jan. 21, 1881.