Author: Delpini, Carlo Antonio
Biography:
DELPINI, Carlo Antonio (c. 1740-1828: ODNB)
Delpini, credited with the invention of Regency pantomime and known in his lifetime as the greatest clown of the age, is included in this bibliography for having written the songs performed in The Deserter of Naples when it was staged at the Royalty theatre, London, on 1 Jan. 1788. The pantomime is based on a comic opera, The Deserter, by Charles Dibdin (q.v.) which was performed in Drury Lane in 1774. Delpini, whose names appear in English public records as Charles Anthony, was born in Rome, Italy, probably in about 1740. He is known to have been in London by 1774 when he performed at Drury Lane. He worked behind the stage at Covent Garden but also performed in pantomimes in numerous London theatres. It is not known when he married but he and Isabella Delpini had a son, Charles Thomas Delpini, who was baptised in Wargrave, Berkshire, on 4 Feb. 1795. He was admitted as a member of the Unity Lodge of the freemasons in London in 1799. Delpini never subscribed to the theatrical fund which supported retired actors and his only income in old age was £200 granted to him by George IV. He died in poverty on 13 Feb. 1828 in Lancaster Court, the Strand, and was buried on 18 Feb. at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London. Isabella, who may have been a midwife, was imprisoned in the Marshalsea for debt in 1830 and is recorded in the 1841 Census as living in St. Martin’s almshouses. She died there on 25 Apr. 1847. (ODNB 10 July 2024; Highfill; ancestry.co.uk 10 July 2024; St. James’s Chronicle 23 July 1816; Morning Post 4 May 1847; South London Observer 18 Feb. 1893) SR
Other Names:
- Delpini