LEST WE FORGET  CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN
(July 23, 1816 - February 18, 1876)

"She was not a great actress merely; she was a great woman."
             William Winter

Born to middle-class parents in Boston, her mother was probably the greatest influence on her, endowing her with a love of music and singing.

An uncle took her to plays and encouraged her studies in theatre and music. He took her to see the English actor
William Charles Macready,  who was to have an influence on her later career.

To help her family get relief from their dwindling finances, she obtained a job as contralto singer at Second Church, where the young Ralph Waldo Emerson was the junior pastor.  Though only fourteen, she was five feet six and physically mature.   When she visited New York she was trained by James G. Maeder, a singing coach who had married actress Clara Fisher in 1834.  She was inspired by Clara's ideas of singing and acting.

Cushman as Romeo

Her successful operatic debut in 1835 with the Maeders impressed audiences with her range of almost two registers (a full contralto and almost a full soprano), but the low voice was the natural one. Clara Fisher Maeder sang the contralto roles.  Because she was assigned the soprano parts, she experienced such strain on her voice that left her with a weakened and limited contralto range.   And that is how Ms. Charlotte Cushman became an actress. Tragedian James Barton trained her and asked her to appear as Lady Macbeth opposite him in 1836. She was nervous and had to borrow the costumes. Her career was launched.

She accepted a three year contract at the Bowery Theatre with a trunk full of costumes that were not paid for. Disaster struck when the theatre burned down destroying her costumes and her hopes.
Nevertheless as luck would have it, she was offered a five year contract in Albany where she opened in Macbeth with Junius Brutus Booth.  Her repertoire included Romeo and Hamlet for she was most comfortable in "breeches" roles, performing almost forty of them between 1835 and 1861.

Her portrayal of Meg Merrilies, the gypsy fortuneteller, in 1837 was an important milestone in her career.  Her new interpretation of the role (she appeared dressed in rags with gray hair, wrinkled skin, and demented eyes) was favorably recalled by critics throughout her career.

When she appeared in Macbeth opposite William Charles Macready at Philadelphia's Chestnut Theatre, he was impressed with her potential, realized her lack of training and suggested she go to England.
After several frustrating months, she made her London debut in 1845, followed by an engagement with Edwin Forrest.   After a tour of the provinces, she and her sister Susan Cushman were offered the opportunity to perform Romeo and Juliet with Charlotte as Romeo.  The London audiences were ecstatic. Eight performances were extended to eighty.

     During the last years of her life, unable to perform on stage, she turned to readings of her favorite plays. She was able to sit and read, captivating her audience with her portrayals of all the characters. An emotional farewell performance at Booth's Theatre, New York, on November 7, 1874, received a tumultuous ovation.  

Cushman's acting style was more intense and natural in delivery because she used intuition more than technique. She was not the first woman to play breeches parts, but she was certainly one of the most successful. Her strong stage presence was due to her intellect, moral strength and personal magnetism.  Her chief interests were the development of her career and the care of her family.  She had written that no one who was an actress should ever marry, and indeed, she never did.


Resource: Notable Women in the American Theatre. 1989
                                       Susan S. Cole