Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/568

 largely contributed to the success of Marie Litton's revival of 'As You Like It' for a hundred nights at the Imperial Theatre (25 Feb. 1880), and Vezin repeated his triumph when the comedy was revived by Messrs. Hare and Kendal at the St. James's Theatre on 24 June 1885.

Meanwhile, under Chatterton's management of Drury Lane, he played Macbeth to the Lady Macbeth of Miss Genevieve Ward (4 Feb. 1876). At the Crystal Palace, on 13 Jan. 1876, he took the part of Œdipus in a translation of Sophocles' 'Œdipus at Colonos,' in which his declamatory powers showed to advantage. At the Haymarket Theatre on 11 Sept. 1876, he won further success by his creation of the title role of W. S. Gilbert's play, 'Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith' (revived at the Court in March 1884). At the opening of the Court Theatre, on 25 Jan. 1871, he had created Buckthorpe in Gilbert's comedy 'Randall's Thumb,' and returning to that theatre, under John Hare, on 30 March 1878, he gave a pathetic impersonation of Dr. Primrose in W. G. Wills's 'Olivia,' which he repeated at the Lyceum Theatre in Jan. 1897. At the Adelphi Theatre he supported Adelaide Neilson in 'The Crimson Cross' (27 Feb. 1879). At Sadler's Wells Theatre, late in 1880, he was seen as lago in 'Othello' and as Sir Peter Teazle in 'The School for Scandal,' subsequently alternating the parts of Macduff and Macbeth with Charles Warner [q. v. Suppl. II].

At Drury Lane Theatre on 14 May 1881 he played lago to the Othello of the American tragedian, John McCullough. At the Globe Theatre he created on 11 Nov. 1882 Edgar in Tennyson's 'The Promise of May.' At the Grand Theatre, Ishngton, on 7 May 1886 he played for the Shelley Society Count Francesco Cenci in a single private performance of Shelley's tragedy, 'The Cenci,' for which the Lord Chamberlain had refused his license (cf. Frederick James Furnivall, a Record, 1911, pp. lxxiii-v; Pall Mall Gazette, 1886). He joined Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre on 23 May 1888 as Coranto in the revival of A. C. Calmour's 'The Amber Heart.' At the same theatre, on 17 Jan. 1889, owing to Irving's illness, he filled that actor's place as Macbeth with marked success.

From this time onward Vezin's appearances in London were few. Much time was spent in touring the provinces, and he gave occasional dramatic recitals at the St. James's, St. George's, and Steinway Halls. He mainly devoted himself to teaching elocution. Among his latest appearances in London he played at the Opera Comique in 'Cousin jack' and ' Mrs. M.P.,' two adaptations by himself of German farces (12 Nov. and 1 Deo. 1891); at Drury Lane Theatre, from September to December 1896, he was the Warden of Coolgardie in Eustace Leigh and Cyril Dare's 'The Duchess of Coolgardie,' and Robespierre in George Grant and James Lisle's 'The Kiss of Delilah'; and at the Strand Theatre on 2 May 1900, he was Fergus Crampton in Bernard Shaw's 'You Never Can Tell.' His final engagement was with Sir Herbert Tree at His Majesty's Theatre, 7 April 1909, when he appeared as Rowley in 'The School for Scandal.' His health was then rapidly failing, and he relinquished his part before the ' run ' was over. After a career extending over nearly sixty years, he died at his residence, 10 Lancaster Place, Strand, on 12 June 1910; in accordance with his instructions his body was cremated at Golder's Green and his ashes scattered to the winds.

A distinguished elocutionist, Vezin was probably the most scholarly and intellectual actor of his generation, although he never reached the first place in the profession. He had a fine intellectual face, a firm mouth, and sharp, clear-cut features which he used expressively. His defect lay in a lack of emotional warmth and of personal magnetism and in the smallness of his stature (he was only five feet five and a half inches in height). He was an admirable instructor in elocution and acting, and many of his pupils attained prominence in their calling. A good engraved portrait appeared in the 'Theatre' for July 1883.

 VEZIN,. JANE ELIZABETH, formerly Mrs. (1827–1902), actress, born while her mother was on tour in England in 1827, was daughter of George Thomson, merchant, by his wife Peggy Cook, an actress, whose aunt, Mrs. W. West [q. v.], enjoyed a high position on the stage. At an early age she accompanied her parents to Australia, and at eight, as a child singer and dancer, earned the reputation of a prodigy. In 1845 she was playing at the Victoria Theatre, Melbourne, and in June 1846, at 