Jefferson Joseph

Jefferson, Joseph, an American comedian, was born at Philadelphia in 1829. He appeared successfully in 1848 in The Maid and the Magpie, and in 1857 in The Sea of Ice, but his first great hit was in Our American Cousin, in which he played Asa Trenchard to Sothern's Dundreary. In 1862 he came to England, and reached the height of his reputation by his impersonation of Rip Van Winkle at the Adelphi. He again visited Loudon in 1874-77, and played his famous part; he also took Bob Acres in The Rivals.