Macklin, CHARLES, actor, was born 1st May 1690, according to his biographer (Macklin used to say in 1699), the son of an Irish gentleman named
M'Laughlin, who commanded a troop of horse for King James at the Boyne two months later, and lost his estates in consequence. After a wild, unsettled youth, in which he was by turns potboy, college servant, and stroller, he played for a number of years in Bristol and Bath, till his brogue was worn down, and in 1733 was engaged for small parts at Drury Lane. He steadily rose in the public favour, till in 1741 he appeared in his great character, Shylock: Pope said of it, 'This is the Jew that Shakespeare drew.' From this time he was accounted one of the best actors, appearing with nearly equal success in tragedy or comedy, in passion or buffoonery, for nearly half a century. His last performance was at Covent Garden in May 1789, when he broke down: but he survived, with an annuity of £200, till 11th July 1797. He was generous, high-spirited, and honourable, but somewhat irascible: in 1735 he killed a brother-actor in a quarrel over a wig, and was tried for murder; and frequently afterwards he was engaged in disputes and actions at law. He wrote a tragedy, and several farces and comedies; of these Love à-la-Mode (1759) and The Man of the World (1781) have been printed; in the latter his own part was Sir Perkin MacSycophant. See his Memoirs, by J. T. Kirkman (2 vols. 1799), and the Life by E. A. Parry (1891).