Ira Aldridge - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Aldridge was born in New York City to Reverend Daniel and Luranah Aldridge July 24, 1805. According to Aldridge, his paternal grandfather was a Christian chief of the Fula in Senegal. At age 13, Aldridge went to the African Free School in New York City, established by the New York Manumission Society for the children of free blacks and slaves. They were given a classical education, with the study of English grammar, writing, mathematics, geography, and astronomy. His early "education" in theater included viewing plays from the high balcony of the Park Theatre, New York's leading theater of the time.

Aldridge's first professional acting experience was in the early 1820s with the company associated with the African Grove, an African-American theatre. He debuted as Rolla in Pizzaro. He went on to play Shakespeare's Romeo and later became a notable Hamlet.

The British actor and comedian Charles Mathews came to the United States on tour in 1822–23. He had developed table entertainments, one-man shows in which he played a variety of parts. From his seeing the African-American actor James Hewlett, he developed a piece which he called "The African Tragedian", which he performed while still in the US. (This became part of his larger work entitled A Trip To America). Mathews was very popular in London, so many people became familiar with his new work after he returned to London. Hewlett wrote a letter to him, which was published, challenging him on his satirical portrayal of an African-American actor.

Confronted with the persistent discrimination which black actors endured in the United States, Aldridge emigrated to England, where he first worked as a dresser to the British actor Henry Wallack. According to the scholar Shane White, English people had heard of the African Theatre because of Mathews, so Aldridge associated himself with that. Bernth Lindfors says,

"hen Aldridge starts appearing on the stage at the Royalty Theatre, he’s just called a gentleman of color. But when he moves over to the Royal Coburg, he’s advertised in the first playbill as the American Tragedian from the African Theater New York City. The second playbill refers to him as 'The African Tragedian.' So everybody goes to the theater expecting to laugh because this is the man they think Mathews saw in New York City."

In his performances, Aldridge used his skill to reverse what was expected.

Aldridge performed scenes from Othello that stunned reviewers. One critic wrote, "In Othello (Aldridge) delivers the most difficult passages with a degree of correctness that surprises the beholder." He gradually progressed to larger roles; by 1825, he had top billing at London's Coburg Theatre as Oronoko in A Slave's Revenge, soon to be followed by the role of Gambia in The Slave, and the title role of Shakespeare's Othello. He also played major roles in plays such as The Castle Spectre and The Padlock, and played several roles of specifically white characters, including Captain Dirk Hatteraick and Bertram in Rev. R. C. Maturin's Bertram, the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III, and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.