On the day before Napoleon got crowned...

elverno

England went crazy over the theatrical debut of a 13 year-old kid! His name was William Henry West Betty. People fainted at the performance, fought for seats on opening night...



Diarists didn't even mention Nappy's Coronation. Sometimes facts are way weirder than fiction...

MadMuffin

Funny story and funny medal! I suppose actors have to be very young to create that kind of fuss today.

Thanks for sharing.

Marcel

Askari

Zanyness is not a modern phenomenon, is it?

elverno

What amazed me was that the watercolorist and diarist Joseph Farington went on for pages about how he and his friends jockeyed for opening night seats and how the big stars of the day had to deal with this kid stealing their thunder. He played adult parts and apparently when he first walked on stage people would laugh because he was too short for his leading ladies! Though he was thirteen, he probably didn't mind...