 The shares in Sadler 's Wells were sold , with Grimaldi 's going to Daniel Egerton . Egerton wanted to keep Grimaldi on the payroll but proposed loaning him to other theatres . Grimaldi refused a contract on these terms and instead appeared alongside JS in a few engagements in Ireland . During the Easter season of 1820 , Grimaldi appeared at the Royal Opera House , Covent Garden , in Harlequin and Cinderella ; or , the Little Glass Slipper . Grimaldi played the wife of the lead character Baron <unk> ; the role was probably an early example of a pantomime dame . In the latter months of 1820 , Grimaldi 's health worsened , and he suffered frequent emotional breakdowns , gastric spasms , breathlessness and severe rheumatoid pain . These ailments did not affect his desire to perform . That September he appeared at Covent Garden , as <unk> in Aladdin followed by the Christmas pantomime Harlequin and Friar Bacon ; the pantomime was particularly successful . 
