Edwin Forrest

Edwin Forrest , was a prominent nineteenthcentury American Shakespearean actor. His legendary feud with the British actor William Charles Macready helped spark the deadly Astor Place Riot of 1849.

Forrest was born in Philadelphia, the son of William and Rebecca Forrest. His father, a merchandise peddler, came from Dumfriesshire, Scotland to Trenton, New Jersey in 1791. Later a business set back led him to relocate to Philadelphia where after to his marriage to Rebecca, a daughter of an affluent GermanAmerican family, he was able to secure a position with a local branch of the United States Bank.

Source: Wikipedia