Sothern
Sothern names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Sothern EDWARD HUGH, an American actor
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
EDWARD HUGH, an American actor, born at New Orleans, in 1859, the son of E. A. Sothern (q. v.). He was educated in England and studied painting in Spain. In 1879, however, he turned his interests to the stage and appeared in a small part with his father at Abbey's Park Theater, New York. He later toured the United States with John McCullough, and England in 1882 and 1883. In the latter year he was the leading comedian in McCullough's company. Since then he has played leading parts in "A Scrap of Paper," "One of Our Girls," "Peg Woffington," etc. In 1887 he formed a company of his own with which he starred in "Lord Chumley," "The Prisoner of Zenda," "The Sunken Bell," "Richard Lovelace," "If I Were King," "John the Baptist," "Lord Dundreary," "Don Quixote," etc. His chief fame, however, is based on his interpretation of Shakespearian rôles. With his company he has produced at various times "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Twelfth Night," EDWARD HUGH SOTHERN "As You Like It," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Merchant of Venice," "Romeo and Juliet," etc. He has appeared in all parts of the United States and has been highly successful. He was married twice, later first to Virginia Harned, and to Julia Marlowe.
Sothern EDWARD ASKEW, an English-American comedian
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
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 out Cousin," by Tom Taylor, was brought 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 repopular in America, whither Sothern turned several times. He died in London, Jan. 21, 1881.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's wrote in 1921 while Edward Hugh Sothern was still touring, calling his Shakespearean work his "chief fame"; he and Julia Marlowe gave their last performances together in the 1920s, and he died in New York on 28 October 1933, with Marlowe surviving him until 1950. Their partnership is now remembered mainly as the last great American Shakespearean touring act of the pre-film era, and Sothern's stage-bound reputation faded quickly once talking pictures arrived. The elder Sothern's account still stands, though the play that made him — Tom Taylor's "Our American Cousin" — is now known to most readers not for Lord Dundreary but as the piece Lincoln was watching at Ford's Theatre in April 1865, a connection Collier's leaves unmentioned. "Dundreary whiskers," once everyday English for long drooping side-whiskers, has passed almost entirely out of use.
Written for this edition, 2026.