Early life

Blanchard was born in York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

 on 2 January 1769, and for a few years was educated at a private school

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

 in that city. Losing both his father, John Blanchard, and his mother, whose maiden name was Clapham, while he was still a child, he was left to the care of his uncle, William Blanchard, long well known as the proprietor of the York Chronicle, by whom he was reared with a tenderness seldom displayed even by a parent. In 1782 he was placed in his uncle's office.

Early theatrical career

He took such delight in Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 that in 1785 he resolved to become an actor. He joined Mr. Welsh's company of travelling comedians at Buxton

Buxton

Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...

. His first appearance was as Allan-a-Dale in M'Nally's' Robin Hood

Robin Hood

Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....

.' For four years he played under the name of Bentley, but from 1789 in his own name. He took the parts of Achmet, Douglas, and even Romeo

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...

. Asperne, of the European Magazine, wrote of him at that period: 'I knew John Kemble

John Kemble

John Kemble may refer to:*John Kemble , Roman Catholic martyr*John Philip Kemble, English actor and manager*John H. Kemble, American maritime historian...

 in 1779, and he was not then half so promising a performer as William Blanchard appeared to me in 1790. Blanchard had more fire, more nature, and more knowledge of the stage.'

Work as a comedian

He next became a manager, opening theatres at Penrith

Penrith

Penrith may be:*Penrith, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia**Penrith Panthers, rugby league team**Penrith Stadium, home ground of the Penrith Panthers**Penrith Bears, ice-hockey team**City of Penrith, local government area...

, Hexham

Hexham

Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...

, Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle is an historical town in Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is named after the castle around which it grew up. It sits on the north side of the River Tees, opposite Startforth, south southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne, south southwest of Sunderland, west of Middlesbrough and ...

, and Bishop Auckland

Bishop Auckland

Bishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish in County Durham in north east England. It is located about northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham at the confluence of the River Wear with its tributary the River Gaunless...

. He lost money, and joined Mr. Brunton's company of players on the Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

 circuit, and took to comic parts. His first appearance in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 was made at Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

 on 1 October 1800 as Bob Acres

Bob Acres

Bob Acres is a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals.Acres was a coward, whose “courage always oozed out at his finger ends”. He was popularly played in the 19th century by American actor Joseph Jefferson....

, in which he succeeded remarkably, and as Crack in the musical farce of the 'Turnpike Gate.' By the middle of his second season Mr. Harris cancelled the original arrangement for five years by re-engaging him for seven, with an increased salary. In certain classes of character he secured a position of recognised preeminence. Oxberry (p. 278) calls him 'unquestionably the best drunken man on the stage.' At Covent Garden Theatre, saving only for a brief professional visit to America in 1832, Blanchard remained continuously for thirty-four years. He was especially noted for his Shakespearian impersonations of Fluellen

Fluellen

Fluellen is a fictional character in the play Henry V by William Shakespeare. Fluellen is a Welsh Captain, a leader of a contingent of troops in the small army of the English King while on campaign in France during the Hundred Years' War.-The name:...

, Sir Hugh Evans, Menenius, and Polonius

Polonius

Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. He is King Claudius's chief counsellor, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet...

. According to Leigh Hunt, his best performance was the Marquis de Grand-Château in the musical toy show of the 'Cabinet.' Leigh Hunt

Leigh Hunt

James Henry Leigh Hunt , best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist, poet and writer.-Early life:Leigh Hunt was born at Southgate, London, where his parents had settled after leaving the USA...

 also praises highly his Russett in Colman's 'The Jealous Wife

The Jealous Wife

The Jealous Wife is a 1761 British play by George Colman the Elder. A comedy - it was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre on 12 February 1761 and ran for nineteen performances in its first season and seventy by the end of the century...

.' Similar testimony to his skill is borne by all the best dramatic critics of the time. The last character created by him was that of Counsellor Crowsfoot in Douglas Jerrold's comedy of 'Nell Gwynne,' produced at Covent Garden Theatre on 9 January 1833, which was warmly spoken of in the 'Athenæum,' 12 January 1833.

Death

Blanchard's death occurred very suddenly on 8 May 1835. He died in his sixty-sixth year, and was buried in the graveyard of St. Luke's Church, Chelsea. His widow, Sarah Blanchard, who was left with two sons, survived her husband nearly forty years, dying at the age of eighty-nine on 15 February 1875. Exactly a year and a day after Blanchard's death his uncle died on the very day on which he completed his eighty-seventh year, after having honourably conducted the York Chronicle for sixty years as editor and proprietor.

Portraits of Blanchard

Among the best known portraits of Blanchard in character are two by De Wilde, one representing him as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in 'Twelfth Night,' and the other as the Marquis de Grand-Château. Better known, through engravings of them, are two famous theatrical paintings. In the 'Scene from Love, Law, and Physic,' bv George Clint

George Clint

George Clint was an English portrait painter and engraver, especially notable for his many theatrical subjects.-Life:...

, A.R.A., the original of which is preserved at the Garrick Club

Garrick Club

The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in London.-History:The Garrick Club was founded at a meeting in the Committee Room at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Wednesday 17 August 1831...

, lifelike portraits are introduced of Liston as Lubin Log, Mathews as Flexible, Blanchard as Dr. Camphor, and John Emery

John Emery

John Emery was an American stage, film, radio and television actor. Born on May 20, 1905 in New York City, he was the son of stage actors Edward Emery and Isabel Waldron...

 as Andrew; while in the scene from the 'Beggar's Opera' the same artist has given all but speaking likenesses of William Blanchard as Peachum, of Mrs. Davenport as Mrs. Peachum, and of Miss Maria Tree as Polly.