Biography

Wilson Barrett was born on February 18, 1846 in Essex, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Sign of the Cross (1932), Hoodman Blind (1913) and A Man of Sorrow (1916). He was married to Caroline Heath and Caroline Heath (actress). He died on July 22, 1904 in London, England, UK.

A famous 19th-century actor-manager who played such roles as William Shakespeare's "Othello" onstage in addition to writing his own plays. His most famous stage work is the 1890s religious drama "The Sign of the Cross"; it appeared at approximately the same time as Henryk Sienkiewicz's classic novel, "Quo Vadis?", and may have been an "unofficial adaptation" of it (such practices were not uncommon at the time and Barrett's play bears many striking similarities to Sienkiewicz's novel in its plot and some of its characters).

Children: sons Frank and novelist & playwright Alfred Barrett; daughter Dollie. His grandson was also a performer of the same name, Wilson Barrett.

Father: George Barrett; Mother: Charlotte M. Wood. Both were performers.

Wilson Barrett died in a nursing home in London on 22 July 1904. Thanks largely to the success of the Sign of the Cross, he left £57,000, even after periods of relative failure, mainly during his later years managing the Old Court Theatre.

According to Jacob Adler, Wilson Barrett was the most famous actor on the London stage of the 1880s.