Charles James Mathews

Charles James Mathews (26 December 1803 – 24 June 1878) was a British actor. He was one of the few British actors to be successful in French-speaking roles in France. A son of the actor Charles Mathews, he achieved a greater reputation than his father in the same profession and also excelled at light comedy. He toured three times in the United States, and met and married his second wife there. Biography Charles James Mathews was born in Liverpool. After attending Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby, he was articled as the architect Augustus Charles Pugin's apprentice. For some years, Mathews worked at this profession. His first public appearance on the stage was made on 7 December 1835, at the Olympic Theatre in London, as George Rattleton in his own play The Humpbacked Lover, and as Tim Topple the Tiger in Leman Rode's Old and Young Stager. Marriage and family In 1838, he married Madame Vestris, then lessee of the Olympic, as her second husband. That year he also toured the US, to lukewarm reviews. In 1856, Mme Vestris died.