Famous Footes: These aren’t biographies but highlight some of the famous Footes of their day.
Samuel Foote (1720 - 1777) Actor / Dramatist / Playwright / Satarist
Samuel Foote was famous in his day perhaps infamous, and is not quite forgotten. A London actor and playwright, he was well known for his mimicry, satirical writings and the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
There is much written about Samuel Foote, as well, some of his own works can still be found. There are very early biographies, newspaper & journal articles, and online biographies, with some minor inconsistencies in details. The most recent and definitive biography is Mr Foote’s Other Leg: Comedy, Tragedy and Murder in Georgian London, by Ian Kelly published 2013. The author followed this with a stage adaptation; the play opening in London in 2015 and showing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Birth: Samuel Foote was born sometime prior 27 January 1720 as this is when he was baptised at St Mary’s, Truro, Cornwall, to parents Samuel Foote & Eleanor née Dineley-Goodere.
Marriage: He married Mary (Polly) Hicks, 10 January 1741, St Clement, Truro, Cornwall. The marriage did not last long but Samuel later had two children, Francis/Frank and George, with speculation as to their mother. They appear to have both died young.
Death: Samuel Foote died 21 October 1777 of a sudden illness in Dover where he was planning a trip to France. He was buried 3 November in an unmarked grave in the west cloister of Westminster Abbey, London.
Break a Leg
This old theatre saying ‘Break a Leg’ used by actors, has been attributed to the events of Samuel Foote as a potential origin of the expression.
In February 1766 he was invited to a hunting party in the country, and though not known for his riding skills he was challenged to ride the Duke of York’s spirited horse. He accepted and consequently was thrown from the horse, breaking his leg in two places. It was quickly evident the injury was so bad that his leg would need to be amputated.
Foote turned this horrific accident to his advantage. He requested the Duke of York to ask his brother, King George III, for a royal patent for the Little Theatre on Haymarket. The Haymarket becoming a Theatre Royal by July that year. Foote subsequently bought the lease and refurbished it.
Scandals
Foote’s life is not short on scandal and stories. The earliest being his expulsion from his college at Oxford.
In his early years he was constantly in debt likely due to his extravagance, ending up in debtors prison in Fleet Street Prison not long after his marriage.
Young Samuel Foote took an opportunity to write a booklet about a murder within his extended family involving his maternal uncles over their disputed inheritance. Sir John Dineley Goodere was murdered by his brother Captain Samuel Goodere (both brothers of his mother) late in 1740. Captain Samuel Goodere himself was subsequently executed the following year for the crime. Foote saw the opportunity to capitalise on the crime and gain some notoriety for himself.
Foote’s life ended also in scandal. In 1776 his young coachman, Jack Sangster, formerly accused his employer Samuel Foote of sexual assault; a capital offence. Charges followed and a trial later in the year where he was acquitted.
(Image: The British Museum, Samuel Foote, 1873, 0712.688, AN1235371001)