The first concerns our great American tragedian Edwin Forrest (1806-1872) who, according to James Rees (Colley Cibber), once essayed a fire-resisting act.

Forrest was always fond of athletics and at one time made an engagement with the manager of a circus to appear as a tumbler and rider.

The engagement was not fulfilled, however, as his friend Sol Smith induced him to break it and return to the legitimate stage.

Smith afterwards admitted to Cibber that if Forrest had remained with the circus he would have become one of the most daring riders and vaulters that ever appeared in the ring.
His adventure in fire-resistance was on the occasion of the benefit to "Charley Young," on which eventful night, as the last of his acrobatic feats, he made a flying leap through a barrel of red fire, singeing his hair and eyebrows terribly.

This particular leap through fire was the big sensation of those days, and Forrest evidently had a hankering to show his friends that he could accomplish it--and he did.
The second concerns an equally popular actor, a comedian this time, the elder Sothern (1826-1881).