David Garrick spent his formative years in Lichfield, Staffordshire, which was also the home of the writer and critic Samuel Johnson. The two men set out for London in the late 1730s, and both were soon attempting to interest the managers of the patent theatres in plays they had written: Johnson's tragedy Irene, and Garrick's farce Lethe.
Garrick performed as an amateur during his childhood and in his early years in London, on one occasion acting as an ad hoc understudy in a pantomime. His professional London debut was at Henry Giffard's theatre in Goodman's Fields, playing Richard III, on 19 October 1741. It became a popular sensation. Garrick's energetic performance style and his rejection of staid, declamatory acting made him famous and influential. His performances met with enormous success in London and Dublin.
Garrick became manager of Drury Lane Theatre in 1747. His celebrity, and his ability to attract other celebrated performers, made it the most influential theatre in the country. He married the dancer Eva-Maria Veigel in 1749.
From his earliest performances as Richard III Garrick had great success in Shakespearean roles. He adapted several of Shakespeare's plays for performance, for instance, cutting Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale into the three-act comedy Florizel and Perdita, and The Taming of the Shrew into the afterpiece Katharine and Petruchio.
In 1769, Garrick was invited to accept the freedom of the borough of Stratford-upon-Avon in recognition of his services to Shakespeare. He spun this invitation into an elaborate 'Jubilee' celebration in Stratford. Though the event itself was afflicted with heavy rain, he adapted it into a successful entertainment, The Jubilee, which was staged ninety-one times that season at Drury Lane.
By the time of his death in 1779, Garrick's name had become closely linked to that of Shakespeare, and he remained influential on acting styles well into the nineteenth century.
