The Lost Life of Ira Daniel Aldridge (Part 1)

• Authors: Bernth Lindfors
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The sons of famous men sometimes fail to succeed in life, particularly if they suffer parental neglect in their childhood and youth. Ira Daniel Aldridge is a case in point-a promising lad who in his formative years lacked sustained contact with his father, a celebrated touring black actor whose peripatetic career in the British Isles and later on the European continent kept him away from home for long periods. When the boy rebelled as a teenager, his father sent him abroad, forcing him to make his own way in the world. Ira Daniel settled in Australia, married, and had children, but he found it difficult to support a family. Eventually, he turned to crime and wound up spending many years in prison. The son of an absent father, he too became an absent father to his own sons, who also suffered as a consequence.

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 194-208

Dates

published

2012-12-01

online

2012-12-04

Contributors

author

Bernth Lindfors

• University of Texas at Austin

References

• Autolycus. “The Drama.” Leader 6 July 1867: 22. Print.
• “Death of Ira Aldridge.” Leader 19 Oct. 1867: 19. Print.
• “Death of Ira Aldridge.” Age 23 Oct. 1867: 7. Print.
• “Forgery.” Ballarat Star 14 Feb. 1867: 2. Print.
• Haddon, Archibald. “Centenary of Negro Drama.” Crisis (February 1935): 35. Print.
• Hill, N.W. “Ira F. Aldridge, the African Roscius.” Notes and Queries 12.27 (1919): 263. Print.
• “The Late J.C. Lambert.” Australasian Sketches 7 Aug. 1875: 71. Print.
• Marshall, Herbert and Mildred Stock. Ira Aldridge, the Negro Tragedian. London: Rockliff, 1958. Print.
• “Monday, July 1, 1867.” Argus 1 July 1867: 8. Print.
• “Pentridge.” Victoria Police Gazette 6 Sept. 1875: 208a. Print.
• Scobie, Edward. Black Britannia: A History of Blacks in Britain. Chicago: Johnson, 1972. Print.
• Sjögren, Gunner. “Ira Aldridge’s Swedish Wife.” Ira Aldridge: The African Roscius. Ed. Bernth Lindfors. Rochester, NY: U of Rochester P, 2007.68-72. Print.
• Stewart, Nellie. My Life’s Story. Sydney: John Sands, 1923. Print.
• “Stothard v. Aldridge.” Times (London) 15 Jan. 1856: 9. Print.
• Surface, Charles. “Theatrical.” Bell’s Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle 6 July 1867: 2. Print.
• “Theatre Royal.” Argus 20 June 1867: 8. Print.
• “Theatre Royal.” Argus 22 June 1867: 8. Print.
• “The Theatres.” Age 1 July 1867: 5. Print.
• “Theatres.” Herald 1 July 1867: 3. Print.
• “Theatres.” Herald 2 July 1867: 3. Print.
• “The Theatres, &c.” Australasian 6 July 1867: 17. Print.
• “The Theatres: Theatre Royal.” Argus 2 July 1867: 5. Print.
• “Theatrical.” Bell’s Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle 22 June 1867: 2. Print.
• ---

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10231-012-0064-5