Othello: Tommaso Salvini as Othello, 1875.

Italian actor Tommaso Salvini (1829-1915) as Othello , as depicted in Vanity Fair , May 22nd, 1875. Salvini performed the part of Othello in Italian at Drury Lane in 1875, with the rest of the cast performing in English. He based his appearance, "not very dark", on real Moors whom he had encountered in Rome and Gibraltar. Unfortunately, he also stressed the stereotypical view of African sexuality: "Passion choked, his gloating eyes burned with mere lust of the 'sooty Moor' for the white creature in Venice.' (Kolin, 34) Between the Italian and African elements of his acting he elicited many regretably racist comments. Courtesy of Yorck Project, under GNU Free Document License.