Editing Edwin Forrest (section)

==Rivalry with Macready==
Forrest visited London a second time in 1845, accompanied by his wife, who was welcomed in the intellectual circles of English and Scottish society. He acted at the [[Princess's Theatre]] in London. He met with great success in Virginius and other parts, but when he attempted to personate [[Macbeth]], a character unsuited to his physique and style of acting, the performance was hissed by the audience. Forrest attributed the hissing to the professional jealousy and machinations of Macready, although that artist had been kind and helpful to him when he first came before London audiences.

A few weeks later, when Macready was playing Hamlet in [[Edinburgh]], Forrest stood up in a private box and hissed the English actor. This act evoked reproaches from the British press and destroyed the respect in which he had been held by the public. A letter by Forrest printed in ''[[The Times]]'' aggravated the offence. The incident was fatal to his popularity in [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]]. His jealousy of Macready resulted in the [[Astor Place riot]] in May 1849. The public feud had exacerbated rifts in New York City social and political life. An estimated 10,000 people filled the streets outside the theater where Macready was playing [[Macbeth]], fighting running battles with authorities and vainly trying to set fire to the Astor Opera House. Dozens of rioters were killed, and around 250 civilians, policemen and soldiers were injured.<ref name="appletons"/>