origin of def. of "ham" as an overactor

[Navin]

What is the origin of the definition of ‘ham’ as someone who overacts or exaggerates?

[Q.E.D]

Ham:

Unfortunately, no one knows exactly where “ham,” meaning an inept, usually grossly melodramatic, actor comes from. We do know that the term “ham” first appeared in the mid-19th century meaning “clumsy and stupid fellow,” and acquired its theatrical meaning later, around 1881.

[furryman]

I don’t have a cite, but I’m pretty sure I read this somewhere.
Apparently the joke (?) about the bad/overly dramatic actor doing the soliliquy from Hamlet goes way back. This is where the term supposedly comes from.

[Balance]

According to Merriam-Webster, it’s short for “hamfatter”, from The Ham-fat Man, a minstrel song. This would be definition 3: “a showy performer, especially: an actor performing in an exaggerated theatrical style”. One presumes that the Ham-fat Man in the minstrel show was played in such a style.

Imagine that–my first guess would have been that it was derived from “ham-handed”, meaning “clumsy”. We learn something new every day.