Bettymania and the Birth of Celebrity Culture

BETTYMANIA WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE were it not for a convergence of wills. The same can be said for the writing of this book, which was made possible by the generosity of and the access to a variety of institutions. To begin with, I owe a debt of thanks to my academic home, the University of La Verne. In the fall of 2007, the university granted me funds which allowed me to build up an extensive collection of Betty prints, collectibles, and press clippings. Then, in the summer of the following year, La Verne's Faculty Research Committee granted me a term sabbatical and travel funds to complete this book. Jobs are hard to come by in academia; good jobs even harder. I would like, therefore, to acknowledge the assistance of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, Fred Yaffe, La Verne's Provost, Alden Reimonenq, and the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, Al Clark. The Huntington Library awarded me with a short-term grant to study their Betty pamphlets and prints, as did the Ransom Center-my deep appreciation to their theater arts curator Helen Adair. Betty Falsey of the Houghton Library also deserves a special mention for readying a vast amount of materials for me to sift through during my short visit to Harvard in the summer of 2008. Cassandra Berman, Erin Blake, and the ever-resourceful Georgianna Ziegler of the Folger were kind enough to collect and to photograph an assortment of Betty paraphernalia for this study. In 1804, a kind of madness descended upon Britain. A thirteen-year-old boy, William-Henry West Betty, arrived and, in a seeming instant, took Ireland, Scotland, and England by storm. Crowds were so intent upon securing tickets for Betty's performances that officers were called out to stop rioters in the streets. Like the groupies who would a century and a half later mob Elvis or The Beatles, fans raved and regularly fainted when near "the divine Master Betty." The Caledonian Mercury reported that on Betty's first London appearance, the "screams of the females were very distressing, and several fainted away." The Morning Chronicle reported that during a performance of Betty's Romeo, "nearly thirty persons were pulled from the pit, in fainting fits." Even older, sophisticated men were strangely overcome by emotion by "Bettymania." When watching the boy perform, Drury Lane's manager R. B. Sheridan shed sighs, tears, and sobs; a similarly affected William Pitt, the Prime Minister of England, wept openly and uncontrollably. Professor Kahan's study is the first to link Bettymania to nineteenth-century consumerism; to point out that marketings of Bettymania in Ireland and Scotland differed radically; to argue that English Bettymania was a splintered rebuke of both King George III and Napoleon; to suggest that interest in Betty reflected the unique gender dynamics of early nineteenth-century Britain; to include a discussion of Betty's standing among the major Romantic poets; to survey Betty's later life; to detail the theatrical career of Betty's son, Henry Betty. Percy H. Fitzgerald, in his conversations with various members of The Garrick Club, recorded that the "Young Roscius was the only actor who ever knew exactly when to quit the stage." The truth is that Betty continued to play until virtually no audience in Britain remained interested in seeing him. However, the disintegration of Betty's popularity was not a sign of celebrity culture's failure but of its appropriate function. One idol must be replaced with another and another and another and another. A study of Bettymania may well offer us some insight into the emergence of celebrity culture and the means by which it continues to be fashioned and maintained. Percy H. Fitzgerald, in his conversations with various members of The Garrick Club, recorded that the "Young Roscius was the only actor who ever knew exactly when to quit the stage." The truth is that Betty continued to play until virtually no audience in Britain remained interested in seeing him. However, the disintegration of Betty's popularity was not a sign of celebrity culture's failure but of its appropriate function. One idol must be replaced with another and another and another and another. A study of Bettymania may well offer us some insight into the emergence of celebrity culture and the means by which it continues to be fashioned and maintained. --Book Jacket Introduction: Bettymania and the birth of celebrity culture Bettymanias in Ireland and Scotland and England Betty conquers London Kemble's revenge Desiring and tiring of master Betty The latter years Coda: Bettymania and its aftermath Appendix A: Betty's London performances.