Page:Men of the Time, eleventh edition.djvu/1088

 VEZIN— VIABDOT-GAECIA.

1071

masterly. On March 30, 1878, he first played, at the Court Theatre, Dr. Primrose in Mr. W. G. Wills's drama of " Olivia," fooinded on the "Vicar of Wakefield."

VEZIN, Mbs. Hbbmann, an ac- tress, nde Jane Thomson, formerly loiown as Mrs. Charles Young, is the second daughter of the late Mr. George Thomson, a merchant of Liverpool, her mother being a daughter of Mr. James Cook, who for thirty years was a bass singer at Drury Lane Theatre. She left England with her parents when quite an infant for Australia, and in <diildhood evinced many qualities for the stage, which her mother, through reverse of fortune, had been compelled to adopt a second time. At the age of eight she was engaged, with her mother, at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, where she played juvenile cbaracters. Before reaching the age of eleven she lost her father, and soon afterwards she accompanied her mother to Hobart Town, where she made her first appearance as a dancer with im- mense success. Subsequently she performed at Launceston and Mel- bourne, and became one of the greatest favourites on the Austra- lian stage. Coming to England, she made her d4hut at Sadler's Wells Theatre, Sept. 15, 1857, as Julia in "The Hunchback," and was highly applauded. During the season at Sadler's Wells, she played several of Shakespere's heroines — Rosalind, Juliet, Portia, &c. She next appeared at the Haymarket, where she made an equally favour- able impression, as Rosalind, in " As You Like it ; " Julia, in " The Hunchback ; " Viola, in " Twelfth Night ; " Beatrice, in " Much Ado Al^ut Nothing," &c. From the Haymarket she transferred her services to the Lyceum, and from that time to the present she has held the position of leading actress at one or other of the theatres de- voted to legitimate drama. In Feb., 1863^ she was married to Mr.

Hermann Vezin, and the following year they acted together at the Princess's in a comedy witten ex- pressly for them by Mr. Westland Marston, entitled " Donna Diana," the success of which must be at- tributed in no small degree to Mrs. Vezin's clever acting. In 1865 she migrated to Drury Lane, where she remained for four seasons, and during that time her greatest suc- cesses were as Mrs. Oakley in Col- man's comedy of "The Jealous Wife," as Constance in the tragedy of " King John," and as Margaret in "Faust." Prom Drury Lane Mrs. Vezin went to the Lyceum to act in Lord Lytton's new play of "The Rightful Heir," which was produced Aug. 3, 1868. Subse- quently she appeared at the Queen's, winning the most favour- able opinions as Marie in "Plot and Passion ; " at the Holbom, where she achieved fresh success as Clara Douglas in "Money," and Lady Tea^e in the "School for Scandal;" at the St. James's, where she further added to her reputation by her admirable repre- sentation of Clotilda in " Femande," Oct., 1871; and more recently at the Charing Cross Theatre.

VIARDOT-GARCIA, Madame Michelle Pauline, vocalist, daughter of the great tenor, Emanuel Garcia, and sister of the lamented Madame Malibran, born in Paris, July 18, 1821, at four years of age spoke four languages, and at seven was able to play the pianoforte accompaniments for the pupils to whom her father gave lessons. After sharing the family migrations, first to England, and afterwards to the United States, she returned with them to Europe in 1828, and her education was continued at Brussels. In conse- quence of her manual facility on the piano, she became one of Liszt's most accomplished pupils. Her father died in 1832, before her voice was formed, and her sister being constantly absent on profes-