David Garrick, an English actor, born in Hereford, Feb. 20, 1716, died in London, Jan. 20,1779. His grandfather Game, or Garrique, was a French Protestant who took refuge in England after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. His father, a captain in the English army, settled at Lichfield on half pay, and with difficulty maintained a family of seven children. At the age of 10 David was sent to a grammar school. He was a great mimic, and at 11 acted before a select audience with great applause. He was manager of the company, and applied to Johnson for a prologue, but without success. In 1728 or '29 he went to Lisbon to visit an uncle, a considerable wine merchant, where he amused dinner parties by repeating verses and popular speeches. He returned the next year to England, and attended the theatres at London during occasional visits there. At 18 he was one of the three scholars at Dr. Johnson's academy. In March, 1736, he set out with his master for London. Johnson and Garrick entered the metropolis with little money and a single letter of introduction. Garrick began to study law, but poverty interrupted his course. His uncle soon after died, leaving him £1,000, and he next commenced business as a wine merchant, in connection with his brother, but the partnership was soon dissolved.

He was now constant at the theatres, wrote theatrical criticisms, practised declamation, and in the summer of 1741 made his first appearance as an actor at Ipswich, under the assumed name of Lyddal, taking the part of Aboan in the play of "Oroonoko." His face was blackened, and he trembled with diffidence; but the provincial audience was delighted. He soon tried comic parts, and as Harlequin his success was complete. But when he applied for employment to the managers of Drury Lane and Covent Garden, both rejected him. He made his first appearance in London at a little playhouse in Goodman's fields, Oct. 19, 1741, acting Richard III. with great effect. His fame spread rapidly; the great theatres were deserted, and all the fashion came to Goodman's fields. He next made an engagement at Drury Lane for £500 a year. In 1742 he went to Dublin, and was received with great enthusiasm. In 1743 he gained the friendship of Pitt, afterward earl of Chatham, and of Lvttelton. Pitt wrote him complimentary verses, and Lyttelton praised him in his "Dialogues of the Dead." Garrick was now the first of English actors; he excelled in comedy, farce, tragedy, and pantomime.

In 1745 he again visited Dublin, and was for a time joint manager there with Sheridan. In 1747 he bought a half interest in Drury Lane theatre, and on Sept. 20 opened his management with the famous prologue written by Johnson. He soon after brought out Johnson's "Irene" with considerable profit to the author. In 1749 Garrick married the German dancer Mlle. Violette, who is said to have brought him £0,000. She was accomplished, intelligent, and a faithful wife, and survived him till 1822, when she died suddenly at the age of 98. In 1753 Garrick brought out "The Gamester," by Edwin Moore; he refused Home's Douglas in 1756. He was singularly sensitive, trembled before adverse criticism, and assiduously courted the critics. In September, 1703, he went to the continent, and was received everywhere with attention and respect. He returned in 1765, and in November reappeared in Much Ado about Nothing," at the command of the king, amid unbounded applause, having opened the performance with an address to the public which was called for on the ten succeeding nights.

In September, 1769, he arranged a jubilee in honor of Shakespeare at Stratford-on-Avon, which continued three days, and which he afterward represented for 92 successive nights at Drury Lane. In 1773, his partner, Mr. Lacy, having died, the whole management of the theatre fell to his charge. His health failing, he now seldom acted; and on June 10, 1770, after having played a round of his old and favorite characters, he took his leave of the stage in the part of Don Felix, in the comedy of The Wonder," the performance being for the benefit of the fund for the relief of decayed actors, which he had originated. Having amassed a very considerable fortune, he now retired to enjoy it. His villa at Hampton was adorned with all the charms of luxury and taste. Bishops and princes visited the retired actor, and Hannah More here passed many agreeable hours. His later years were filled with suffering. The gout and gravel, to which he had long been subject, returned upon him with increasing severity. He was buried on Feb. 1, 1779, beneath the monument of Shakespeare. His talents were singularly versatile. He wrote farces and comic pieces, conversed well, and was a member of the literary club. He succeeded in every kind of acting.

His comic turn led him to delight in broad farces, in feats of dexterity, and ludicrous transformations. As Hamlet he filled his audience with horror and melancholy; as Lear he rose to the height of tragic power. He was of middle size, delicate in form, and quick in movement, wanting that dignity of appearance which has distinguished so many other actors. His memory, too, sometimes failed him, and he would repeat a line before he could recover himself. But his voice was melodious and clear, his countenance animated, and his sensitive temperament, even in his silence, governed the spectator. His thrills of feeling communicated themselves by look, gesture, and position. He was somewhat vain, but good-humored and placable, and a kind friend. In spite of a certain want of dignity in his manners, and a constant affectation, he was respected and liked.-SeeLife of Gar-rick," by P. Fitzgerald (2 vols., London, 1868).