Henry Erskine Johnston

Henry Erskine Johnston (1777–1830?) was a Scottish actor.

Born in Edinburgh in May 1777, he was apprenticed to a linendraper, and made his first appearance on the Edinburgh stage under Stephen Kemble as an amateur in the part of Prince Hamlet, 9 July 1794; the Thespian Dictionary claimed that he also played Harlequin. His success was immediate. After playing a few nights, he crossed the sea to Dublin, where he acted twelve nights, appearing on seven of them as Norval in Douglas by John Home.

Johnston's first appearance in London took place at Covent Garden Theatre, in Douglas, 23 October 1797. He was praised in the European Review. He remained at Covent Garden, with summer engagements at the Haymarket Theatre, until the season of 1802–3.

With seven other actors, Johnston signed the statement of grievances against the management of Covent Garden. After the dismissal of Joseph George Holman, he is said to have owed his re-engagement to John Fawcett, who refused to renew his contract otherwise. As Norval in Douglas he made, 15 September 1803, his first appearance at Drury Lane, playing Anhalt in Lovers' Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald on 22 September, to the Amelia of his wife. There he remained for two years, playing among other characters Petruchio and Duke Aranza in The Honey Moon (John Tobin). He returned to Covent Garden 13 October 1805, as the original Rugantino in Monk Lewis's Bravo of Venice.

As Sir Archy Macsarcasm in Love à la Mode (by Charles Macklin), Johnston was seen again at Covent Garden 10 December 1816, recorded as his first appearance there for twelve years. Sir Pertinax Macsycophant in Macklin's The Man of the World followed, 27 December, and on 10 June 1817 he was the original Baltimore at the English Opera House (the Lyceum) in an operatic version of The Election of Joanna Baillie. On 24 November 1821 he was at the Olympic the Solitary in Le Solitaire, or the Recluse of the Alps, by James Robinson Planché, apparently his last appearance in London.

...
Wikipedia