Sweeney Todd

This article is about the character. For other uses, see Sweeney Todd (disambiguation).
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd murdering a victim, from the penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls
First appearancePenny dreadful serial titled The String of Pearls (1846–47)
Created byJames Malcolm Rymer
Thomas Peckett Prest
Portrayed byRobert Vivian (1924 Broadway)
Moore Marriott (1928 film)
Tod Slaughter (1936 film)
Freddie Jones (1970 television)
Len Cariou (1979 Broadway, 2000 London concert)
George Hearn (1980 Broadway, 2000 New York concert, 2001 San Francisco concert)
Denis Quilley (1980 London cast, 1993 London revival, 1994 BBC Radio)
Ben Kingsley (1998 drama)
Timothy Nolen (2004 New York City Opera)
Michael Cerveris (2005 Broadway revival)
Ray Winstone (2006 drama)
Johnny Depp (2007 film)
Michael Ball (2012 London revival)
Mikhail Gorsheniov (2012 Russian musical)
Jeremy Secomb (2015 London revival, 2017 Off-Broadway revival)
Norm Lewis (2017 Off-Broadway revival)
Hugh Panaro (2017 Off-Broadway revival)
Anthony Warlow (2019 Australia)
Jett Pangan (2019 Manila, 2019 Singapore)
Martin Jarvis (2021 BBC Radio drama)
Josh Groban (2023 Broadway)
Aaron Tveit (2024 Broadway)
In-universe information
Full nameBenjamin Barker (Bond play and musical version)
GenderMale
TitleThe Demon Barber of Fleet Street
OccupationBarber
Serial killer
SpouseNone in original version
Lucy Barker (Bond play and musical version)
ChildrenNone in original version
Johanna Barker (Bond play and musical version)
NationalityBritish

Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial The String of Pearls (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet Street, Todd murders his customers with a straight razor and gives their corpses to Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime, who bakes their flesh into meat pies. The tale has been retold many times since in various media.[1]

Claims that Sweeney Todd was a historical person[2][3] are disputed strongly by scholars,[4][5][6] although possible legendary prototypes exist.[7]

  1. ^ "Sweeney Todd synopsis".
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Haining79 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Haining93 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Man or myth? The making of Sweeney Todd" (Press release). BBC Press Office. August 12, 2005. Retrieved November 15, 2006.
  5. ^ Duff, Oliver (January 3, 2006). "Sweeney Todd: fact". The Independent. London, England: Independent Print Ltd. Archived from the original on July 1, 2006. Retrieved November 15, 2006. (Full text)
  6. ^ "True or False?". Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert. KQED. 2001. Retrieved November 15, 2006.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mack-2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).