Born in Scotland, in 1833, Robertson began acting as a child. Early in her career, Robertson performed with such transatlantic leading actors as the American Charlotte Cushman, and British leading actors. At age 16 in1850, Robertson moved to the Princess’s Theatre London through the auspices of then-famous star actor-manager, Charles Kean (and his wife Ellen Tree-Kean). In London, by 1852, she had become involved with one of Kean’s in-house dramatists, Irish playwright, Dion Boucicault and as a result, in 1853, left the London stage to tour America. When she first arrived across the Atlantic, Robertson, a petite beauty who had proved popular with audiences in Britain, was the box office draw, and was often referred to as the “fairy star.” Robertson had several children by Boucicault, including famous performers Dion Jr and Nina Boucicault. In an interview for The Sketch (16 March 1894), the then retired actress described her appearance as Zoe Peyton in The Octoroon as the “most thrilling” of her career.
Pro-South democrat Fernando Wood was elected mayor of New York City on December 6, the same day that The Octoroon opened at the Winter Garden Theatre. Fernando Wood was an American politician of the Democratic Party and the 73rd and the 75th mayor of New York City; he also served as a United States Representative and as Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means in both the 45th and 46th Congress.
stage manager and actor – (1802-1899) was born 3 December 1802 in Bristol. He went on to become a famous actor and stage manager. During the period 1826-7, he performed on the stage in Perth. From 1846 to 1875, Frederick Charles Wilton was the very successful stage manager of the Britannia Theatre in London’s East End. A keen diarist, he died 8 September 1889 in Sydney, Australia, where he had retired to in 1876.
John Brown was a controversial figure who played a major role in leading the United States to civil war. He was a devout Christian and lifelong abolitionist who tried to eradicate slavery from the United States through increasingly radical means. Unlike most abolitionists, Brown was not a pacifist and he came to believe that violence was necessary to dislodge slavery. He engaged in violent battles with pro-slavery citizens in Kansas and Missouri, and led a raid on the federal munitions depot at Harper’s Ferry. Although the raid failed spectacularly, it helped precipitate the Civil War and turned Brown into a martyr for the abolitionist cause.
Dionysius Lardner Boucicault (Dion) was born in Dublin in 1820. Though he took the family name of his mother’s husband (Samuel Boursiquot), his biological father was most likely Dr. Dionysius Lardner (1793-1859), who had had an affair with Boucicault’s mother, Anna (nee Darley). Boucicault’s first theatrical success in 1842, was under the assumed name of Lee Moreton, and the play, London Assurance, has been staged as recently as 2010, starring Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw, at the Olivier Theatre.
The image here is of Boucicault with his second wife, famous actress, Agnes Robertson, who starred as Zoe Peyton in The Octoroon and whose performances in this and other Boucicault plays cemented their success on stage.
