# Henry Scharf > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Henry_Scharf > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Henry_Scharf.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Scharf > Source revision: 1336861955 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English illustrator and actor (1822–1887)}} {{More citations needed |date=June 2025}} {{Use British English|date=August 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Henry Scharf | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = 1822 | birth_place = [London](/source/London), England, U.K. | death_date = {{death year and age|1887|1822}} | death_place = [New York City, New York](/source/New_York_City%2C_New_York), U.S. | other_names = Harry | known_for = | occupation = Illustrator, Shakespearean actor, and a professor of [elocution](/source/elocution) }} '''Henry Scharf''' (1822–1887) was an illustrator, Shakespearean actor, and a professor of [elocution](/source/elocution). He was the son of illustrator [George Johann Scharf](/source/George_Johann_Scharf) and brother to Sir [George Scharf](/source/George_Scharf), the first director of the [National Portrait Gallery](/source/National_Portrait_Gallery%2C_London) in London. ==Early life and education== Scharf was born in London, England, in 1822 to Elizabeth and George Scharf. He trained as an artist, and most likely studied under his father along with his brother, George.{{DNB Cite|wstitle=Scharf, George (1820-1895)}} ==Career== He went on the stage and for a few years he acted with some success in England in [Shakespeare](/source/Shakespeare)an plays. Scharf made his London debut in November 1844 as a member of [Samuel Phelps](/source/Samuel_Phelps)'s company at [Sadler's Wells](/source/Sadler's_Wells), where Phelps had produced Shakespeare's ''[King John](/source/King_John_(play))'' a month or two earlier.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/shakespearepromp00shat|title=The Shakespeare promptbooks; a descriptive catalogue|first=Charles Harlen|last=Shattuck|date=18 February 1965|publisher=Urbana, [University of Illinois Press](/source/University_of_Illinois_Press)|accessdate=18 February 2018|via=Internet Archive}} On 6 June 1848, Scharf performed with the Amateurs in [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham) as Master Matthew in [Ben Jonson](/source/Ben_Jonson)'s ''[Every Man in His Humour](/source/Every_Man_in_His_Humour)''. The original actor scheduled to play the role was [Charles Dickens](/source/Charles_Dickens)'s friend, the artist [John Leech](/source/John_Leech_(caricaturist)), who was unable to be there because of the serious illness of his only child.{{cite web|url=http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/remain/browse.php?CISOSTART=6&cat=Features|title=I Remain - Digital Archive - Browse|first=Library and Technology Services, Lehigh|last=University|website=digital.lib.lehigh.edu|accessdate=18 February 2018}} At some point, Scharf moved to the United States and settled in New York City, for on 19 August 1850, he played Moses in ''[The School for Scandal](/source/The_School_for_Scandal)'' there,{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorynewyork02browgoog|quote=henry scharf actor.|title=A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 to 1901|year=1902|first=Thomas Allston|last=Brown|publisher= [Dodd, Mead](/source/Dodd%2C_Mead) |accessdate=18 February 2018|via=Internet Archive}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBB4ywGx_IoC&q=henry+scharf+elocution|title=The Pilgrim Edition of the Letters of Charles Dickens: Volume 6: 1850-1852|first1=Charles|last1=Dickens|first2=Madeline|last2=House|first3=Graham|last3=Storey|date=18 February 1988|publisher= [Clarendon Press](/source/Clarendon_Press) |isbn=9780198126171|accessdate=18 February 2018|via=Google Books}} Scharf left the stage in 1852 and became a professor of elocution and [anatomical drawing](/source/anatomical_drawing) at the [University of Virginia](/source/University_of_Virginia), in [Charlottesville, Virginia](/source/Charlottesville%2C_Virginia), and remained employed in Virginia for twenty-five years. This following entry regarding Scharf's drawings was made in a history of the University of Virginia:
These colored drawings for the Medical Department were executed by an accomplished artist, Mr. Henry Scharf, who labored for six years, and "accumulated an unequalled collection of plates, executed with an exquisite truth to nature, making them invaluable." These rare plates, on which at least $3000 had been expended, were unfortunately destroyed in the fire that consumed the interior of the Medical Hall about 1886.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/universityofvirg01barruoft|title=University of Virginia; its history, influence, equipment and characteristics, with biographical sketches and portraits of founders, benefactors, officers and alumni|first1=Paul Brandon|last1=Barringer|first2=James Mercer|last2=Garnett|first3=Rosewell|last3=Page|date=18 February 2018|publisher=New York, Lewis|accessdate=18 February 2018|via=Internet Archive}}
Scharf also taught at the [Virginia Female Institute](/source/Stuart_Hall_School), which opened on 1 January 1844 in [Staunton, Virginia](/source/Staunton%2C_Virginia). Known as Professor Scharf, he attended a meeting as Instructor of Elocution in early February 1872.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3w8SAAAAYAAJ|title=The Educational Journal of Virginia|last=Price|first=Thomas Randolph|date=1872-01-01|publisher= [Educational Publishing House](/source/Educational_Publishing_House) |language=en}} Scharf returned to the stage from 5 May through 10 May 1884, at the [National Theatre](/source/National_Theatre_(Washington%2C_D.C.)) in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), where he was cast in ''Dewdrop'', a romantic comedy by Con.T. Murphy and C.E. Callahan, which starred Miss [Lizzie Evans](/source/Lizzie_Evans). Around 1882–83, he became a member of a travelling dramatic company for four or five seasons, and towards the end of his career he played "leading old men parts" in Miss Lizzie Evans's Company. Almost bald and stoutly built towards the end of his life, his last role was as an old gentleman in ''Fogg's Ferry''. He arrived in New York penniless early in June 1887. In July, after borrowing $30 to purchase a suit of clothes, he disappeared. Scharf had a bad heart and it was conjectured that he had died at the age of sixty-five.{{cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/07/08/100921283.pdf|title= An Old Actor Disappears|work = [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)| accessdate=18 February 2018}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/07/08/100921283.pdf Henry Scharf Obituary, 1887, New York Times] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Scharf, Henry}} Category:Date of birth missing Category:Date of death missing Category:1822 births Category:1887 deaths Category:19th-century American educators Category:19th-century American illustrators Category:19th-century American male actors Category:19th-century American male artists Category:19th-century English educators Category:19th-century English illustrators Category:19th-century English male actors Category:19th-century English male artists Category:19th-century people from New York (state) Category:19th-century people from Virginia Category:American male Shakespearean actors Category:American male stage actors Category:Artists from London Category:Artists from New York City Category:Artists from Virginia Category:Elocutionists Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:English male Shakespearean actors Category:English male stage actors Category:Male actors from London Category:Male actors from New York City Category:Male actors from Virginia Category:People from Staunton, Virginia Category:University of Virginia faculty --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Henry Scharf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Scharf) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Scharf?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.