William Edward Sheridan
| William E. Sheridan | |
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New York Public Library Digital Gallery
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| Born |
William Edward Sheridan June 1, 1839 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | May 18, 1887 (aged 47) Sydney, Australia |
| Other names | W. E. Sheridan |
| Occupation | Stage Actor |
William E. Sheridan (June 1, 1839 – May 18, 1887) was an American stage actor and Civil War veteran, active on stage from 1858 until his death in 1887. Sheridan was a respected actor who played both lead and supporting roles, but was probably best suited when cast as the villain.
William Edward Sheridan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where in his late teens he clerked for several years at Benjamin Loring & Co., a stationery store on State Street. He made his stage debut at Boston’s Howard Athenaeum on March 15, 1858, as Robin in Thomas Morton's five-act comedy, Town and Country. After a period with John A. Ellsler at the Cleveland Theatre (later known as the Cleveland Academy of Music), Sheridan found a niche in the fall of 1859 playing villains at Pike's Opera House, Cincinnati, remaining there until war broke out between the States. He enlisted in the spring of 1861 at Cincinnati with the Sixth Ohio Infantry and rose to the rank of captain before a sniper’s bullet fractured a forearm during the Battle of Resaca, Georgia. Though a skilled army surgeon ultimately saved his arm, the wound would plague him for the rest of life.
In July, 1865 Sheridan made his debut at Niblo's Garden, New York in Dion Boucicault's Arrah Na Pouge, playing Beamish McGoul with Thomas Henry Glenney (his American debut) as Shawn the Post, Josephine Orton as Arrah Mellish and Mary Wells playing Katy. When Edwin Forrest began his engagement at Niblo's that September, Sheridan would fill in as his substitute on the actor’s off days. Sheridan later returned as a lead actor to Pike's Opera House until the theatre was consumed by fire in March 1866. Over the following several seasons Sheridan was associated with theatres in St. Louis, Washington D. C., Boston, New Orleans and Philadelphia. In November 1867 he received praise for his interpretation of Captain Hawtree in the T. W. Robertson play Caste at the National Theatre, Washington D. C. By 1870 he was the lead actor at the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, and by the early 1870s Sheridan was a member of Edwin Booth's company at Booth's Theatre, New York performing second lead in Shakespearean tragedies.
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