|
Harvey Teasdale (1817-1904) was a Victorian performer best known for his success as the ‘man-monkey’, an act which he toured with for many years. He was born in Sheffield to a family of cutlers, but rather than continuing the family business, Teasdale opted for a life in the performance industry. He performed several times as the clown in pantomimes and harlequinades before cultivating a reputation for playing the ‘man-monkey’, an act he toured the country with, finding much success. His most famous stunt was his attempt to sail down the River Don, Sheffield, in a barrel pulled by ducks. As well as performing, Teasdale managed several theatres during his lifetime. In 1862 Teasdale’s wife, Sarah, separated from him, taking their two daughters with her. Teasdale discovered Sarah's whereabouts and attacked her with an empty pistol before a neighbour intervened. He was accused of attempted murder and served two years in Wakefield Prison (1862-1864). He came out of prison a ‘converted clown’, swore off future theatrical performances and joined the Hallelujah Band in Sheffield. In 1878 he published his autobiography, ''The Life and Adventures of Harvey Teasdale, the Converted Clown and Man Monkey, with his remarkable conversion in Wakefield Prison'', and by 1881 he purported to have sold over 40,000 copies. During his later life Teasdale preached Methodism in and around Sheffield. He was reunited with Sarah and lived with her until she died in 1883. He remarried in 1886. He died in 1904 in Firvale Workhouse Asylum and is buried in the General Cemetery, Sheffield.〔Teasdale, Harvey, The Life and Adventures of Harvey Teasdale, the Converted Clown and Man Monkey, with his remarkable conversion in Wakefield Prison, 1881〕 ==Early life== Teasdale was born in Sheffield Park and during his childhood he moved around Sheffield with his family. He attended several different schools which his parents paid for, but he ‘seldom went’ unless accompanied by his sister, preferring to play truant. He began his education at the Carver Street National School, but instead of attending classes preferred to make trips to the Wicker Bridge and swim in the water fully dressed to amuse the blacksmiths. He then moved to Netherthorpe Academy where, when he attended school, he showed early signs of having a theatrical personality: ‘I used to amuse the scholars by leaping through hoops and over chairs like a monkey’. He was later sent to Fox’s School where his mischievous reign continued. He alludes to being very popular in the school after playing numerous pranks on his school master, such as knocking a needle through his chair. Once more he was taken out of school, this time being relocated to a boarding school in the nearby town of Dronfield. Teasdale was a sprightly child who was ‘very fond of running up spouts and getting on to roofs of buildings and running on the slates like a cat’. As a result he was often involved in accidents and scrapes. Furthermore, he got in to frequent fights with other boys in the town: ‘I do not think at that time there was a lad in Sheffield… could stand any chance with me at fighting’. After another failed attempt at settling his son in to a school, Teasdale’s father, Benjamin, decided to keep him at home to with the intention of training him for the cutlery trade. However, on several occasions he claims to have shirked his errands. His family moved from Sheffield to Walkley Hall and it was here that Teasdale declared ‘it was prophesised by one of the Walkley Belles that Harvey would become an actor!’ He began attending plays at Sheffield's Theatre Royal and his interest in acting was ignited. However, he still made time for mischief, like stealing fish at Crookes Moor Dam: ‘The fish that I had caught were in my hat on my head. When asked what I had done with the fish I said that I had caught none. The fish… at that moment jumped on my head and appeared to my guilty conscience to say “Harvey, what a liar you are”’.’ In 1832 the Cholera epidemic swept Sheffield and Teasdale was one of its victims. He claimed he was very ill, but nevertheless managed to survive. Soon after his recovery Teasdale and a friend named Charles Black decided they wanted to leave Sheffield and head to London, but with no transport they had barely reached Chesterfield before they chose to give up.〔Harvey Teasdale, The Life and Adventures of Harvey Teasdale, the Converted Clown and Man Monkey, with his remarkable conversion in Wakefield Prison, 1881〕 Performing Life Harvey began performing in Sheffield public houses and theatres in the early 1830s. He moved around the city taking rooms at different pubs, often playing the clown in performances. He alludes continuously to the vice and danger associated with the life of an actor: ‘I shall not record the wicked scenes that were enacted in this room. I shall not lift the curtain’. Teasdale’s most famous stunt was his attempt to sail down the River Don in a barrel drawn by ducks. He advertised his performance on flaming placards throughout Sheffield and on the day approximately 70,000 people lined the streets to watch. As he sailed along the force of the crowd became so great part of the wall collapsed sending many spectators in to the water. Teasdale maintained that the cries of the people who had fallen ‘might have appalled a stouter heart than mine’. Nobody was hurt, but many people ‘cursed old Harvey and his ducks’. His attempt was a failure. The ''Sheffield Iris'' described the stunt as foolish novelty: ‘The clown (Teasdale) made a start with his tub and ducks… but they were completely unmanageable, and he rolled and rocked about with his short paddles until he got a good dousing’. Teasdale first played the 'man-monkey', his signature act, at Grantham Theatre in the mid 1840s. He drew in the crowds by jumping from balcony to stage dressed as a monkey. Teasdale was following in a tradition of Skin Performance: actors who impersonated and dressed like animals. His monkey performance was a huge success and it was from here that he began touring the country, meeting with excited audiences. Many local newspapers praised his performance, one referring to him as ‘the Yorkshire Phenomenon!’ However, despite his many successes round the country, Teasdale never managed to make a name for himself in London, performing in the capital once to negative reviews: ‘Mr Harvey Teasdale was very slow. He has much to learn before he can take his stand as clown in a leading London theatre’. He allegedly fought with the manager of Astley’s Amphitheatre, London, and left, never to return to perform in the capital again. Yet in his memoir Teasdale speaks highly of his own talent and success: ‘It was acknowledged, by undisputed authority, that mine was the best representation of the monkey that had ever appeared on stage’.〔Harvey Teasdale, The Life and Adventures of Harvey Teasdale, the Converted Clown and Man Monkey, with his remarkable conversion in Wakefield Prison, 1881〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harvey Teasdale」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|