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David Garrick Quotes

David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson. He appeared in a number of amateur theatricals, and with his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare's Richard III, audiences and managers began to take notice.

Impressed by his portrayals of Richard III and a number of other roles, Charles Fleetwood engaged Garrick for a season at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He remained with the Drury Lane company for the next five years and purchased a share of the theatre with James Lacy. This purchase inaugurated 29 years of Garrick's management of the Drury Lane, during which time it rose to prominence as one of the leading theatres in Europe. At his death, three years after his retirement from Drury Lane and the stage, he was given a lavish public funeral at Westminster Abbey where he was laid to rest in Poets' Corner.

As an actor, Garrick promoted realistic acting that departed from the bombastic style that was entrenched when he first came to prominence. His acting delighted many audiences and his direction of many of the top actors of the English stage influenced their styles as well. During his tenure as manager of Drury Lane, Garrick also sought to reform audience behaviour. While this led to some discontent among the theatre-going public, many of his reforms eventually did take hold. Garrick also sought reform in production matters, bringing an overarching consistency to productions that included set design, costumes and even special effects.

Garrick's influence extended into the literary side of theatre as well. Critics are almost unanimous in saying he was not a good playwright, but his work in bringing Shakespeare to contemporary audiences is notable. In addition, he adapted many older plays in the repertoire that might have been forgotten. These included many plays of the Restoration era. Indeed, while influencing the theatre towards a better standard he also gained a better reputation for theatre people. This accomplishment led Samuel Johnson to remark that "his profession made him rich and he made his profession respectable." Wikipedia  

✵ 19. February 1717 – 20. January 1779
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David Garrick: 11   quotes 0   likes

Famous David Garrick Quotes

“This scholar, rake, Christian, dupe, gamester, and poet.”

David Garrick

Jupiter and Mercury.

“Here lies Nolly Goldsmith, for shortness called Noll,
Who wrote like an angel, and talk’d like poor Poll.”

David Garrick

Impromptu Epitaph on Goldsmith.

“Are these the choice dishes the Doctor has sent us?
Is this the great poet whose works so content us?
This Goldsmith’s fine feast, who has written fine books?
Heaven sends us good meat, but the Devil sends cooks?”

David Garrick

Epigram on Goldsmith’s Retaliation. Vol. ii. p. 157. Compare: "God sendeth and giveth both mouth and the meat", Thomas Tusser, A Hundred Points of Good Husbandry (1557); "God sends meat, and the Devil sends cooks", John Taylor, Works, vol. ii. p. 85 (1630).

“I am disappointed by that stroke of death that has eclipsed the gaiety of nations, and impoverished the public stock of harmless pleasure.”

David Garrick

Samuel Johnson; carved on Garrick's memorial in Lichfield Cathedral http://www.britannica.com/shakespeare/article-2605
About

“Here lies James Quinn. Deign, reader, to be taught,
Whate’er thy strength of body, force of thought,
In Nature’s happiest mould however cast,
To this complexion thou must come at last.”

David Garrick

Epitaph on Quinn. Murphy’s Life of Garrick. Vol. ii. p. 38.

“His profession made him rich and he made his profession respectable.”

David Garrick

Samuel Johnson
About

David Garrick Quotes

“Corrupted freemen are the worst of slaves.”

David Garrick

Prologue to the Gamesters.

“Let others hail the rising sun:
I bow to that whose course is run.”

David Garrick

On the Death of Mr. Pelham. Compare: "Pompey bade Sylla recollect that more worshipped the rising than the setting sun", Plutarch, Life of Pompey.

Sun

“Their cause I plead,—plead it in heart and mind;
A fellow-feeling makes one wondrous kind.”

David Garrick

Prologue on Quitting the Stage in 1776. Compare: "I would help others, out of a fellow-feeling", Robert Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy. Democritus to the Reader.

Feeling , Heart

“Prologues like compliments are loss of time;
’T is penning bows and making legs in rhyme.”

David Garrick

Prologue to Crisp’s Tragedy of Virginia.

Loss , Time

“Heart of oak are our ships,
Heart of oak are our men;
We always are ready.”

David Garrick

Hearts of Oak. Compare: "Our ships were British oak, And hearts of oak our men", S. J. Arnold, Death of Nelson.

Men , Heart

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