Henry Compton

Henry Compton (real name Charles Mackenzie) (22 March 1805 – 15 September 1877) was an English actor best known for his Shakespearean comic roles. Compton began his career in Shakespeare plays in the British provinces. He then began to specialize in low comedy roles in touring companies, where he played for over a decade. He first appeared in London in 1837 and joined the company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane later that year, again playing in Shakespeare. Other notable roles that followed included Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer, Gnatbrain in Black-Eyed Susan, Sir Peter Teazle in The School for Scandal and Foresight in Love for Love. By the early 1840s, Compton had earned the reputation of being the best Shakespearian clown of his age both in London and in the provinces. He performed for three years at the Princess's Theatre, London, famously playing Touchstone in As You Like It in 1844. He also played at the Olympic Theatre for three years, then the Royal Strand Theatre. In 1853 he joined the company at the Haymarket Theatre, where he originated roles in important new plays. He also won praise as Mr. Cox in revivals of Box and Cox. In the 1870s, he played frequently at the old Globe Theatre. One of his most famous roles was the Gravedigger in Hamlet, which he played often, including at the Lyceum Theatre with Henry Irving in 1875. Compton's last role was in 1877 in Liverpool as Pangloss in The Heir at Law. After he became ill, his friends organised two star-studded benefit performances for him in March 1877. Biography Compton was born in Huntingdonshire the son of a minister of the Congregational church, St Neots. His parents were John Mackenzie and his wife, formerly Mrs Elizabeth Symonds, and he was the sixth of eleven children. Through both parents, Compton was related to members of the medical profession. After being educated at Huntingdon and at a boarding school at Little Baddow in Essex, Compton was apprenticed to his mother's brother, who was a cloth merchant in Aldermanbury, near London. Compton was unhappy with a life in trade and, desiring instead a life on the stage, ran away twice but was returned to his family each time. However, after running away for a third time in 1826, his family finally accepted his wish to become an actor. He took his grandmother's maiden name, Compton, as his stage name.