Ira Aldridge was an American-born actor who went on to international fame when he arrived in Europe to further his career. Aldridge is considered the first African-American actor to gain worldwide acclaim, and the first Black actor to find fame in a foreign nation. Ira Frederick Aldridge was born on this day in 1807 in New York City to free Black parents. As a young student at the African School, Aldridge was exposed early on to the works of Shakespeare and developed a zeal for acting. While in his teens, Aldridge joined a Black acting troupe and then got his first professional break in the 1820s. Together with William Henry Brown and James Hewlett, he helped form the African Grove Theatre, the first African-American owned and managed theatre in America.