Othello and Desdemona by William Blake. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Samuel Morgan Smith trained as an actor in Boston and New York but as a black man he was excluded from appearing in many theatres in America. He came to England with his wife and son and became the actor–manager of a small theatre in Gravesend. In his time he was by far the most celebrated black tragedian in Britain and his portrayal of Shakespearean characters met with great critical success. In 1866 he appeared in Birmingham and London where he was hailed as a great triumph, attracting comments that he was ‘a superior performer, a talented and painstaking actor…. devoid of rant and exaggeration’.
However, by 1882 his touring days were over, and he was living in some poverty in Sheffield. The Sheffield Telegraph reported him ‘prostrated on his sick-bed’ but some help was at hand. Samuel was a Mason and the report goes on to say, ‘Fellow Masons have helped him already … If others care to assist a man of colour to die in comfort Mr Superintendent Gill will see that their aid reaches that shadowed home’.
Samuel’s life has been recognised by Otis Mensah, writer and performing artist, with a poem performed in the Samuel Worth Chapel in 2019. He is buried in grave I4 611 in the Anglican area.