Edward Hugh Sothern (December 6, 1859 – October 28, 1933) was an American actor who specialized in dashing, romantic leading roles and particularly in Shakespeare roles.
Biography
Sothern was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of English actor E. A. Sothern and his wife Frances Emily "Fannie" Stewart (d. 1882). Sothern was educated in England at St Marylebone Grammar School. His brothers and sister all became actors: Lytton Edward Sothern (1851–1887); George Evelyn Augustus T. Sothern (1864–1920), who used the stage name Sam Sothern; and Eva Mary Sothern.
Early career and Lyceum years
Sothern's father had encouraged pursuits other than the stage, but Sothern had already caught the acting bug. His first professional acting appearance was in 1879 as the cabman in an American revival of Brother Sam, a show written by John Oxenford in 1862 for his father, and in which his father played the lead. After playing in Boston and touring in the U.S., he sailed for England, making his London debut in 1881 on a double bill as Mr. Sharpe in False Colours and Marshley Bittern in Out of the Hunt. The next year, he played Arthur Spoonbill in Fourteen Days and then toured in Britain with Charles Wyndham's company.
In 1883, he returned to the U.S. and toured first with John McCullough and then Helen Barry. Back in New York, in 1884, he played Eliphaz Tresham in The Fatal Letter, Melchizidec Flighty in Whose Are They?, which he wrote himself, and in Nita's First. The next year, he was Alfred Vane in Favette, Knolly in Mona, John in In Chancery and Jules in A Moral Climate. He was hired by Charles and Daniel Frohman in the stock company of the old Lyceum Theatre in New York, where he starred as a leading man for the next twelve years. He made a hit as the lovesick auctioneer in the romantic comedy The Highest Bidder (1887). He was especially known for his heroic portrayal of Rudolph Rassendyl in the first stage adaptation of The Prisoner of Zenda, by Anthony Hope, which he first played in 1895. The role made him a star. In 1896, Sothern married actress Virginia Harned.
After he left the Lyceum, he continued in romantic roles in New York. In 1899, he played d'Artagnan in The King's Musketeer, and in 1900 he played Heinrich in The Sunken Bell and Sir Geoffrey Bloomfield in Drifting Apart. For several years, Sothern dreamed of mounting a spectacular and precise production of Hamlet. He finally opened the play in New York in 1900, but during the first week, he was stabbed in the foot by Laertes' sword and was stricken with blood poisoning, closing the production. After he recovered, he revived the piece on tour, but the sets and costumes were destroyed by a fire in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1901, he played the title role in Richard Lovelace and then François Villon in If I Were King. In 1903, he played the title role in Markheim and Robert, the King of Sicily, in The Proud Prince, after which he toured again.
Marlowe and later years
In 1904, he began an extremely successful partnership with actress Julia Marlowe, beginning with their appearances as the title roles in Romeo and Juliet, Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, and the leads in Hamlet. They toured all over the U.S. in these plays, adding The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night to their repertoire in 1905. Unhappy with their compensation from their manager, Charles Frohman, they continued under the management of the Shubert Brothers, from then on receiving a percentage of the profits. In 1906, together with Marlowe, he played the Duc d'Alençon in Percy MacKaye's Jeanne d'Arc, the title role in Sudermann's John the Baptist and Heinrich in The Sunken Bell, receiving favorable reviews: "He plays the idealist thoughtfully and intelligently.... He plays it with a fire and enthusiasm that approach closely to genius." By this time, Marlowe and Sothern were known as the premier Shakespearean actors in their day. Sothern was particularly admired as Benedick and Malvolio.