Samuel Foote
Samuel Foote (born January 27, 1720 in Truro , Cornwall , † October 21, 1777 in Dover ) was an English actor and playwright .
Life
Foote came from a wealthy family, his mother was Eleanor Goodere. After finishing school in Worcester , Foote enrolled at Worcester College , Oxford to study law. He broke off this course after a few semesters without a degree and went to London .
During this time, Footes inherited his uncle Sir John Dinely Goodere when he was murdered by a relative. When, after a few years, Foote had completely squandered the inheritance, he joined an acting company in London. At the age of 23, Foote made his acting debut in William Shakespeare's Othello in 1744 , but was not quite successful. Over the years, success was not long in coming, which led to Foote being able to set up his own business. In 1747 he founded the Theater Royal Haymarket with his own ensemble and mainly staged his own plays there.
Especially in his comedies , Foote wrote his roles tailor-made, in which satire was never neglected. He skillfully characterized well-known personalities by satirizing them in his plays at the appropriate point. In doing so, Foote also satirically denounced social grievances. After a complicated broken leg at the age of 45, Foote could no longer perform as an actor. But he continued his theater, staging and, above all, writing plays.
A total of 22 pieces have survived, mostly comedies and antics, which are characterized above all by their wit and temperament. A minor scandal occurred in 1760 when Foote attacked the Church in general and the Methodists in particular with The minor ; also in 1772, when The nabob denounced the exploitation of India by the East India Company .
Samuel Foote ran his Theater-Royal in Dover until shortly before his death on October 21, 1777. He died at the age of 57.
Works
- The author
- The bankrupt
- The capuchin
- Commisary
- The cozeners
- Devil upon two sticks
- The doctor invites you to his chariot
- To Englishman in Paris
- The Englishman returned from Paris ( 1756 )
- The knights
- Know your own mind
- Lame lover
- The liar
- Maid of Bath
- The mayor of Garrat
- The minor
- The nabob
- The orators
- The patron
- Button . ( 1752 )
- Three weeks after marriage
- A trip to Calais
- A treatise on the passions so far as the regard the stage . AMS Press, New York 1973, ISBN 0-404-02448-3 (repr. Of ed. London 1747)
literature
- Elizabeth N. Chat: Samuel Foote . Twayne, Boston 1980, ISBN 0-8057-6779-7
- Percy H. Fitzgerald: Samuel Foote - a biography. Chatto & Windus, London 1910
- Simon Trefman: Sam. Foote, comedian (1720-1777) . Univ. Pr., New York 1971, ISBN 0-8147-8153-5
- Ian Kelly: Mr Foote's other leg . Picador, London [u. a.] 2012, ISBN 978-0-330-51783-6
- Foote, Samuel . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 10 : Evangelical Church - Francis Joseph I . London 1910, p. 625 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
Web links
- Literature by and about Samuel Foote in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Foote, Samuel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English actor and playwright |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 27, 1720 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Truro (Cornwall) |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 21, 1777 |
| Place of death | Dover |