Portrait of David Garrick (1717-1779), as Periander in Eurydice, attributed to Benjamin Wilson

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Description: David Garrick (born 19 February 1717 in Hereford – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson. He appeared in a number of amateur theatricals, and with his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare's Richard III audiences and managers began to take notice. Impressed by his portrayals of Richard III and a number of other roles, Charles Fleetwood engaged Garrick for a season at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He remained with the Drury Lane company for the next five years and purchased a share of the theatre with James Lacy. This purchase inaugurated twenty-nine years of Garrick's management of the Drury Lane, during which time, it rose to prominence as one of the leading theatres in Europe. At his death, three years after his retirement from Drury Lane and the stage, he was given a lavish public funeral at Westminster Abbey where he was laid in Poet's Corner.
As an actor, Garrick promoted realistic acting that departed from the bombastic style that was entrenched when Garrick first came to prominence. His acting delighted many audiences and his direction of many of the top actors of the English stage influenced their styles as well. Furthermore, during his tenure as manager of Drury Lane, Garrick sought to reform audience behaviour. While this led to some discontent among the theatre-going public, many of his reforms eventually did take hold. In addition to audiences, Garrick sought reform in production matters, bringing an over-arching consistency to productions that included scenery, costumes and even special effects.
Garrick was born into a family with French Huguenot roots that could be traced to the Languedoc region of southern France. Garrick's great-grandfather, David Garric, was in Bordeaux in 1685 when the Edict of Nantes was abolished, revoking the rights of Protestants in France. David Garrick fled to London and his son, Peter who was an infant at the time, was later smuggled out by a nurse when he was deemed old enough to make the journey. David Garrick became a British subject upon his arrival in Britain and anglicized the name to Garrick. At the time of David Garrick's birth in 1717, the family was living in the city of Hereford moving to Lichfield, home to Garrick's mother, shortly after his birth. His father, Captain Peter Garrick, was an army recruiting officer stationed, through most of young Garrick's childhood, in Gibraltar. Garrick was the third of five children and his younger brother, George (1723-1779), would be an aide to David for the remainder of his life. Playwright and actor, Charles Dibdin, recorded that George, discovering his brother's absence would often inquire "Did David want me?" Upon Garrick's death in 1779, it was noted that George died forty-eight hours later, leading some to speculate that "David wanted him." His nephew, Nathan Garrick, married Martha Leigh, daughter of Sir Egerton Leigh, Bart and sister of Sir Samuel Egerton Leigh, author of Munster Abbey; a Romance: Interspersed with Reflections on Virtue and Morality (Edinburgh 1797).
He made his debut as a professional actor at Ipswich in 1741 in Oroonoko or the Royal Slave, a play by the British dramatist Thomas Southerne. He also joined a summer tour to Ipswich with Giffard's troupe, where he played Aboan in Southerne's Oroonoko, appearing under the stage name Lyddal to avoid the consternation of his family. But, while he was successful under Giffard, the managers of Drury Lane and Covent Garden rejected him. On 19 October 1741, Garrick appeared in the title role of Richard III. He had been coached in the role by actor and playwright Charles Macklin and his natural performance, which rejected the declamatory acting style so prevalent in the period, soon was the talk of London. Of his performance at Goodman's Fields, Horace Walpole remarked, "there was a dozen dukes a night at Goodman's Fields."
Five years after joining the acting company at Drury Lane, Garrick again traveled to Dublin for a season where he managed and directed at the Smock Alley Theatre in conjunction with Thomas Sheridan, the father of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. After his return to London, he spent some time acting at Covent Garden under John Rich while a farce of his, Miss in Her Teens, was also produced there.David Garrick and his wife, Eva Marie Veigel, painted by William Hogarth. This painting is in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.With the end of the 1746-1747 season, Fleetwoods' patent on Drury Lane expired in partnership with James Lacy, Garrick took over the theatre in April of 1747. The theatre had been in a decline for some years, but the partnership of Garrick and Lacy led to success and accolades. The first performance under Garrick and Lacy's management opened with an Ode to Drury Lane Theatre, on dedicating a Building and erecting a Statue, to Shakespeare read by Garrick and written by his friend, Dr. Johnson. The ode promised the patrons that "The drama's law the drama's patrons give,/For we that live to please must please to live." Certainly this statement could be regarded as succinctly summing up Garrick's management at Drury Lane where he was able to balance both artistic integrity and the fickle tastes of the public.

Benjamin Wilson (1721-1788) was an English painter, etcher and scientist.[1] He was the 14th child of Major Wilson, a wealthy York clothier whose house was decorated by a French artist, Jacques Parmentier (d 1730). His father's business failed and Wilson moved to London, where he became a clerk and began to study painting, possibly with Thomas Hudson. In 1746 and 1748-50 he was in Dublin, where he practised successfully as a portrait painter. On his return to London he settled into Godfrey Kneller's old house in Great Queen Street and built up a lucrative portrait practice, which was probably patronized chiefly by Yorkshiremen in London. One of these, Sir John Savile, later Earl of Mexborough, may have introduced him to Edward Augustus, Duke of York (1739-67), who in 1773 appointed Wilson painter to the Board of Ordnance, though he painted little after 1769.

Status: For Sale	Reference#: 3118a
Condition: Good	Year: 18th Century
Country: UK	Maker: Attributed to Benjamin Wilson
Height: 36 in. (91.44 cm)
Width: 32 in. (81.28 cm)
Title: Portrait of David Garrick (1717-1779), as Periander in Eurydice, attributed to Benjamin Wilson	Style: Traditional
Materials: oil on canvas

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