William Henry West Betty
(1791-1874), Known as 'The Young Roscius'; actorRegency Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter associated with 9 portraits
When he was nine years old, after seeing Sarah Siddons on the stage in Belfast, William Betty declared that he would die if he could not become an actor. He made his first stage appearance two years later in 1803. For three years Betty enjoyed enormous success as a child star, before adulthood began to reveal his limitations as an actor. He retired from the stage when in his early twenties.
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.