Abstract

Mobile Magic

The book "Edwin Forrest: First Star of the American Stage," by Richard Moody is a biography of actor Edwin Forrest. Moody projects Forrest, whose mobile magic made him the most popular actor in America for almost fifty years until his death 1866, he also brings to life the man, the passionate patriot who first encouraged American playwrights but who also had a passion for making money, the egoist. Forrest's fantastic divorce case which was in the courts for years should be of as much interest to lawyers as to gossip-column enthusiasts. Yet never, in spite of his detailed account of Forrest both as man and as actor, does the author forget the importance of the background against which Forrest played. His account of conditions in the American theatre throughout the growing continent during the first half of the nineteenth century is as illuminating as it is discerning.