Macklin (or M'Laughlin), Charles (c. 1700-1797)

Irish actor and dramatist. His portrayal of Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice at Drury Lane, London, in 1741 was significant. The part had long been played by a comedian, and Macklin raised it again to a dignified and tragic status.

Macklin joined a company of strolling players in 1716, and in about 1730 began playing minor parts in London. He was a fine actor but a quarrelsome person, and moved constantly from one company to another. He was at his best in such parts as Scrub (a servant in The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar) and Peachum (a criminal in The Beggar's Opera by John Gay), and as Sir Pertinax MacSycophant in his own play The Man of the World (1781).