Susan Johnstone, also known as Mrs. James William Wallack (29 November 1792[1] – 25 December 1850) was an English-American actress of the 19th-century.
She was born as Georgiana Susannah Johnstone in Covent Garden in London in 1792,[2] the only daughter of the actor, singer and comedian John Henry Johnstone (1749-1828), known as 'Irish' Johnstone with his second wife Ann Bolton (1771-1810), the daughter of a wine merchant, with whom he eloped.[3][4] On the day of her baptism on 6 March 1793 Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore was to have been her sponsor but he was killed in a shooting accident the same day.[5] On going on the stage herself she enjoyed a successful career and excelled in comic roles. In 1817 she married the actor and theatrical producer James William Wallack at Lambeth in 1818,[2] appearing with him in New York and on tour.[6] The couple appeared in the United States frequently thereafter. They had four sons: John Johnstone Wallack, known as Lester Wallack, who also became an actor;[7][8] (1820–1888); James Price Wallack (1821–1846); Captain Henry Jobling Wallack (1823–1900), and Charles Saville Wallack (1826–1855).
Her portrait was painted several times including by Henry Inman in about 1828, one of a small series he painted of theatrical figures. Another by Thomas Sully entitled 'Portrait of Mrs. Wallack' was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1819.[7]
Susan Johnstone Wallack died suddenly in St. Giles in London in 1850.
References edit
- ^ Georgiana Susanna Johnson in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
- ^ a b London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 for Georgiana Susannah Johnstone: Lambeth, St Mary, Lambeth, 1818-1822 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
- ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ Reynolds, K. D. "Johnstone, John Henry". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14969. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, and Edward A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Southern Illinois University Press (1982) - Google Books pg. 213
- ^ Nan Mullenneaux, Staging Family: Domestic Deceptions of Mid-Nineteenth-Century American Actresses, University of Nebraska Press (2018) - Google Books pg. 336
- ^ a b Portrait of Mrs. James W. Wallack by Henry Inman (United States, New York, Utica, 1801-1846) - Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 279.