Frederick Robson

Frederick Robson


A carte-de-visite portrait of the British comedian, stage actor and ballad singer Frederick Robson (1821-1864), seen here dressed as the eponymous hero of Uncle Zachary, a 'serio-comic drama' first performed at the Royal Olympic Theatre in March 1860.

Born Thomas Robson Brownhill at Margate in 1821 – Frederick Robson was his stage name – he began his theatrical career in 1844 after serving some time as an apprentice to a London engraver. His greatest triumphs were won after 1853 on the boards of the Olympic Theatre. According to the Nuttall Encyclopaedia (1907), ‘Robson combined in a high degree all the gifts of a low comedian with a rare power of rising to the grave and the pathetic.’

Photographed in the spring of 1860 by Camille Silvy of London.
 


Code: 126885
© Paul Frecker 2024