William Farren - Art and Reputation

Art and Reputation

In the types of characters he favored, "crusty old bachelors, jealous old husbands, stormy fathers, worrying uncles, or ancient fops with ghastly pretensions to amiability" (as Lewes described them), he was among the most highly-regarded actors of his time. His performances were known for their polish and subtlety; in more sentimental roles, such as Old Parr, he was able to mix sentiment with cool irony. He was at home in Augustan and other eighteenth century roles, but he is not remembered as a Shakespearian actor. Macready remembered him as justly famous for "studious correctness", but described him as second to William Dowton and Joseph Munden in "the rich quality of humor." William Hazlitt praised the conservatism of his style in the older plays. Leigh Hunt disagreed, disparaging Farren in favor of Dowton as Anthony Absolute (Sheridan's The Rivals). Even Hunt, though, acknowledged Farren's exceptional self-possession. Writing in The Times in 1855, Henry Morley called Farren "one of the most finished actors by whom the stage has been adorned in the present century." Writing after the actor's death, John Westland Marston recalls that the actor excelled in portraying "the vanity, the self-love, the inconsistency, and now and then the redeeming good-feeling of worldly, well-bred people, and occasionally the credulous faith of simple, guileless people."