Palmer, Robert L

1757

1817

Robert L. Palmer was born in Banbury Court, Long Acre, in September 1757. He was the son of the Drury Lane Theatre house servant Robert Palmer (1699-1787) and the brother of the actors John Palmer (1744-1798) and William Palmer (d. 1797), all of whom are noticed in the BDA. Robert made his debut at Drury Lane, at the age of six, as Mustardseed in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on 23 November 1763, a night that was to begin his association of some 54 years with that theatre. He outgrew juvenile roles and by 1775 was acting in the summer with his brothers at Birmingham. In the summer of 1776 he was engaged by Foote at the Haymarket Theatre. He also acted at Dublin and Edinburgh. But it was at Drury Lane that Palmer developed an extensive repertoire of over 300 roles: comic eccentrics, gallants, braggarts and foreigners. He was reported to have been excellent in comic French characters and he occasionally played Harlequin. He was a member of ‘the School of Garrick’ (G0655). Palmer died in Pimlico on 25 December 1817 and was buried at St Martin-in-the-Fields. In addition to the three portraits of him in the Garrick Club the BDA lists another nine. (BDA)