EDWARD A. FOLEY (1814-1874) Portrait Bust of the...

EDWARD A. FOLEY (1814-1874)
Portrait Bust of the Actor William Farren (1786-1861)
White statuary marble, c.75cm high
Signed and dated 1841

William Farren was born on the 13th of May 1786, the son of an actor (b. 1725) of the same name, who played leading roles from 1784 to 1795 at Covent Garden. His first appearance on the stage was at Plymouth at the Theatre Royal, then under the management of his brother Percy, in Love a La Mode. Having spent some time in Dublin, he returned to London as ‘William Farren of Dublin’ and his first London appearance was in 1818 at Covent Garden as ‘Sir Peter Teazle’, a part with which his name is associated. He played at Covent Garden every winter until 1828, and began in 1824 a series of summer engagements at the Haymarket which also lasted some years. At these two theatres he played an immense variety of comedy characters.

From 1828 until 1837 he was at Drury Lane, where he played a wider range of characters, including Polonius and Caesar. He was again at Covent Garden for a few years, and next joined Benjamin Webster at the Haymarket, as stage-manager as well as actor. The present work by Edward Foley was completed in 1841 when the actor was at the height of his popularity, just two years before he suffered a stroke on stage at the close of his performance of the title-part in Mark Lemon's Old Parr. He was, however, able to reappear the following year, and he remained at the Haymarket a further ten years, though his acting never again reached its former level. During his later years he confined himself to old men parts, in which he was unrivalled. In 1855 he made his final appearance at the Haymarket, as Lord Ogleby in a scene from the Clandestine Marriage. He died in London on the 24th of September 1861.