Simmons, Samuel

c.1773/77

1819

Samuel Simmons seems to have been born about 1773 (though the DNB suggests 1777), the son of a house servant at Covent Garden Theatre, and he was first recorded in the playbills on 4 November 1783 as the Boy in “The Poor Soldier”. He was then seen there and at the Haymarket in such childrens’ roles as the Duke of York in “Richard III”; by 1793-94 he was no longer called Master Simmons in the bills and had probably just turned 21. Some modern sources confuse him with his father, and his name was occasionally given as Simmonds. In any case, he acted regularly at Covent Garden in minor roles and served as a dancer and singer. By 1814-15 ‘little’ Simmons, as the critic Hazlitt called him, was earning £9 weekly and in demand also at Liverpool. According to the “Authentic Memoirs of the Green Room” Simmons carved a nice niche for himself in three types of comic roles: simpletons, ‘forward coxcombry still accompanied with silliness’ and ‘ridiculous fretfulness.’ The little comic with a large talent was pictured most frequently as Beau Mordecai in “Love a la Mode” (G0752, G0753) and Master Matthew in “Every Man in His Humour” (G0755, G0756). His last appearance was as Moses in Sheridan’s “The School for Scandal” on 8 September 1819. Three days later he died. (BDA)[EAL]