Barry Sullivan (stage actor)

Barry Sullivan (christened Thomas Barry Sullivan) (5 July 1821 – 3 May 1891), was an acclaimed stage actor who played many classical parts in England, Australia and America.

Sullivan was born at Howard's Place,Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, son of Peter Sullivan and his wife, Mary née Barry. Both of his parents were natives of Cork, Ireland, and both died when Thomas Barry was eight years old.

Sullivan was then raised by his paternal grandfather in Bristol. Sullivan was educated initially at the school attached to the Catholic Church in Trenchard Street and then at the Stokes Croft Endowed school. At 14 years old, Sullivan entered a lawyer's office, but, seeing William Macready in Macbeth and other parts, he became obsessed with the idea of becoming a great actor.

In 1837 Sullivan joined a strolling company and at Cork was given an engagement at 15 shillings a week as a regular member of a stock company, playing minor Shakespearian parts to Charles Kean's lead. Sullivan had a good light tenor voice, occasionally sang in opera. But his ambition was to become a tragedian. In November that year he obtained an engagement with Murray's stock company at Edinburgh, at a salary of 30 shillings a week, on the understanding that he was to play "second heavy" parts. Sullivan married Mary née Amory, daughter of an army lieutenant, on 4 July 1842 and they would have two sons and three daughters.

Sullivan soon began to play leading roles, in 1844 he took the part of Antonio supporting Helena Faucit in The Merchant of Venice and was Petruchio to her Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew. Sullivan then went to Glasgow where he met and acted with Gustavus Vaughan Brooke; during the next seven years had engagements throughout the provinces in Scotland and England.James Roland MacLaren learnt acting through being an understudy to him in the North of England. Sullivan's reputation was growing, and on 7 February 1852 he made a successful first appearance at the Haymarket Theatre, London, as 'Hamlet'. He was also successful as Angiolo in Miss Vandenhoff's Woman's Heart, Evelyn in Lord Lytton's Money and Hardman in Lytton's Not so Bad as we Seem. Sullivan was now established as a leading actor and played principal parts during the next eight years in most of the plays of the period including Claude Melnotte in The Lady of Lyons with Helena Faucit as Pauline, and Valence in Browning's 'Colombe's Birthday' with Helena Faucit in the part of Colombe.

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