CUSHMAN, CHARLOTTE SAUNDERS American actress, was born in Boston, Mass., on July 23, 1816. Her father, a West India merchant, left his family in straitened circumstances, and Charlotte, who had a fine contralto voice, went on the operatic stage. In 1835 she successfully appeared at the Tremont theatre as the Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro. But her singing voice failing her she entered the drama, and played Lady Macbeth in the same year. In 1842 she man aged and played in the Walnut street theatre in Philadelphia. She accompanied Macready on an extensive American tour, winning a great reputation in tragedy. In 1845 and again in she fulfilled successful engagements in Lon don.
She was a keen student, and acquired a large range of classic roles. Her best parts were Lady Macbeth and Queen Katherine, her most popular, Meg Merrilies, in a dramatization of Scott's Guy Mannering. Her commanding figure and her animated vigorous temperament enabled her to play with success such male parts as Romeo and Cardinal Wolsey. Her last stage ap pearance was at the Globe theatre, Boston (May 15, 1875). She died in Boston Feb. 18, 1876.
See Emma Stebbins' Charlotte Cushman, her Letters and Memories of her Life (1878) ; H. A. Clapp, Reminiscences of a Dramatic Critic (1902) ; and W. T. Price, A Life of Charlotte Cushman (1894) .