Middleton, (Magan) James

c.1769

1799

James Magan was born in Dublin, probably in 1769, and was trained, like his father, in surgery. James became attracted to the stage and applied to Covent Garden Theatre in London, probably late in 1787; he was advised to get some experience at Bath, where he made his official debut as Othello on 31 January 1788, advertised as ‘A Gentleman.’ He then appeared as Romeo and acted both roles in Bristol before returning to London in September. At some point he began using James Middleton as a stage name. At Covent Garden he acted Romeo again, followed by Chamont in “The Orphan”, O’Donovan in “The Toy”, Harry Neville in “The Dramatist” and Florizel in “The Winter’s Tale”. It was a promising beginning, but Middleton was a spendthrift and an inebriate, and the Covent Garden management dropped him after 1788-89. His mental instability was increased by the death of his wife Sophia in August 1789. He tried Dublin, Cork, a new wife, Edinburgh and Belfast in that order, expanding his repertoire to include Hamlet, and he was engaged again at Covent Garden for 1793-94 at £6 weekly. Middleton’s acting was noted by some critics, and though they likened his voice to that of Spranger Barry, which was a nice compliment, they accused him of ranting and crying too much and generally being too extravagant both in his acting and in his private life. His worst offence occurred on 19 December 1796, when he was acting Nerestan in “Zara”: after the first scene he walked out of the theatre, and Davenport had to read the rest of his part. Middleton went to a tavern and sent a message to the playhouse saying he would act no more that evening. He was dropped from the roster, returned to Dublin again, misbehaved, and lost his position once more. Middleton came back to London in 1798, desperate, and Drury Lane hired him at £6 per week. He worked for most of the season, his last appearance being on 17 April 1799. Steeped in debt, borrowing constantly from members of the company, and ‘filthy in person, depraved in principle,’ he was finally sent to Newgate, was rescued by Charles Kemble, gave recitations in a small theatre in Pimlico and died, drunk, on 18 October 1799. The willingness of the two patent theatres to engage Middleton at a good salary, and the interest of artists in painting him, suggest that the actor had much talent but little sense. (BDA)[EAL]