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171:, one of Forrest's fellow actors. While on tour in Cincinnati, Forrest left his wife in the company of Jamieson while running an errand. Apparently suspicious, he returned ahead of schedule and encountered Jamieson performing an amateur phrenological study of Mrs. Forrest's head. Forrest accepted this explanation but later took advantage of Mrs. Forrest's absence from home to read a letter Jamieson wrote to her in the form of
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163:, which proved fateful to the Forrests' marriage. Mrs. Forrest was known to socialize at home with other members of this social circle while Forrest was working onstage, either in New York or in other venues around the country. Forrest himself did not participate "and did not enjoy home company." (p. 347)
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On
January 24, 1852, after six weeks of testimony, the court found in favor of Mrs. Forrest. Forrest's career was unaffected although he left the stage for a number of years. The settlement called for Forrest to pay $ 3000 alimony per year. He challenged the ruling for sixteen years, but eventually
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Sinclair was born in London, the eldest of John and
Catherine Sinclair's four children. The Sinclairs were originally from Edinburgh, Scotland. Mr. Sinclair became a successful drummer in the militia and later a well-known singer, who toured the U.S. in the early 1830s. She was well-educated, and
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The
Forrests made a pledge to avoid publicizing the reasons for their separation, but by December 1849/January 1850 they both made public accusations about infidelity. Forrest sued for divorce in Pennsylvania with Mrs. Forrest filing a countersuit in New York shortly thereafter. Forrest's suit was
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By many accounts, the
Forrests lived as a happily married couple in New York from 1837–1849. Forrest became one of the prominent actors of his time, especially after his success in London, where previously American actors were not taken seriously. Forrest's acting work took him throughout the U.S.,
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Throughout the 1850s, Sinclair acted in London, Australia, and the U.S. Her reviews lauded her physical beauty and stage presence, but her main attraction seems to have been her status as the former Mrs. Forrest. Her final performance was on
December 18, 1859, at the Academy of Music in New York
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Sinclair, who reverted to her maiden name after the divorce, had never intended a life on the stage and had never appeared onstage before her divorce, began her career as an actress shortly after the divorce, partly due to
Forrest's challenge of the court ruling. She began working with the actor
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Mrs. Forrest's parents and sisters also spent considerable time in the U.S. and lived much of the time with the
Forrests in NYC. One sister, Mrs. Voorhees, lived with her husband in NYC. Whenever Forrest toured outside of NYC, Mrs. Voorhees usually stayed with her at the Forrest home on 22nd St.
276:, which did not receive good reviews. Keene blamed this failure on "Booth's bad acting. Sinclair's Metropolitan Theatre, which she called the "most magnificent temple of histrionic art in America," offered melodramas, burlesques, and romances starring the famous actors of the day.
179:. According to Mrs. Forrest, who defended the novel, she had challenged Jamieson to write a love letter that rivaled Mrs. Sand's work in the novel. Mr. Forrest was unconvinced and immediately asked for a separation from Mrs. Forrest.
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The
Forrests' marriage began to unravel in 1848 when Forrest began to suspect that his wife had been unfaithful to him. The event that led to the Forrests' separation and divorce trial concerned Mrs. Forrest's relationship with
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By
Christmas, she became one of the few female actress managers by leasing the Metropolitan Theatre, "a very grand house against which smelly little San Francisco Hall couldn't hope to compete." She opened on Christmas Eve with
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sometimes accompanied by Mrs. Forrest, who otherwise spent her time at their home on 22nd St. in New York City (NYC). Unfortunately, the
Forrests had four children die during or immediately after childbirth.
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at Brougham's Lyceum Theatre in New York. She ran to full houses for eight consecutive nights. Some of her lines mirrored her well-known personal experiences and were greeted with delight by the audiences.
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Mrs. Forrest was an intellectual and a captivating conversationalist, who was quickly accepted into the social circle of the literary and artistic elite of NYC. The literati discussed such works as
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for an unprecedented forty three consecutive nights. Sinclair is reported to have worn a French gown worth $ 1200 ($ 19 was considered extravagant for a costume at that time).
190:, accused Forrest of multiple affairs, most notably with the actress Josephine Clifton but also including several women living in New York. Forrest, represented by
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After her sister's death, Sinclair lived in New York City with her nephew. She later went completely blind before dying in 1891 from a cerebral embolism.
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paid $ 68,000 in arrears and was obligated to pay $ 4000 per year afterwards. Mrs. Forrest received $ 100,000 from his estate when he died in 1872.
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rejected for reasons of non-residency in the state of Pennsylvania. Both parties accused the other of numerous incidents of infidelity.
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Their very sensational divorce publicized and provided vivid detail of the following accusations. Mrs. Forrest, represented by
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to play opposite him. Booth's brother, Junius, also worked for Sinclair at the Metropolitan. Keene and Booth opened in
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welcomed in the social and cultural circles of London society. At age nineteen, Sinclair attended a performance of
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to prepare for a life of acting. On February 22, 1852, Sinclair appeared as Lady Teazle in
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94:(1817–1891) was an actress-manager who worked with such notable actors as
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Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 2
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and hired Edwin Booth for juvenile leads and the rising star
474:. Kingsport, TN: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. pp.
324:. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
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In September, she played Portia to Booth's Shylock in
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435:The Life of Edwin Forrest: With Reminiscences
143:Life in the U.S. and the Forrest Divorce Case
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362:. Pasadena: The Pasadena Playhouse.
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398:. New York: Dewitt and Davenport.
395:Report of the Forrest Divorce Case
237:to continue her acting career. In
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106:. Her sensational divorce from
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438:. Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson.
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233:In 1853, Sinclair moved to
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542:Catherine Norton Sinclair
466:Ruggles, Eleanor (1953).
320:James, Edward T. (1971).
92:Catherine Norton Sinclair
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573:American stage actresses
360:Ladies of the Footlights
358:Bodeen, De Witt (1937).
244:The Taming of the Shrew
196:Nathaniel Parker Willis
251:The Merchant of Venice
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499:Titone, Nora (2010).
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544:at Wikimedia Commons
432:Rees, James (1874).
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268:Laura Keene
173:George Sand
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104:Laura Keene
100:Edwin Booth
552:Categories
292:References
235:California
175:'s novel,
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