Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/804

 784 KEMBLE KE3IBLE, the name of n family of British actors. L Roger, the founder of the family, bora in Hereford, March 1, 1721, died in 1802. He was during a great portion of his life an actor and the manager of provincial companies. He had 12 children, of whom the eldest was the celebrated Mrs. Siddons. (See SIDDONS, SARAH.) II. John Philip, eldest son of the pre- ceding, born at Prescot, Lancashire, Feb. 1, 1757, died in Lausanne, Switzerland, Feb. 26, 1823. He was educated at a Roman Catholic seminary in Staffordshire and at the English college in Douai, France, and made his first appearance upon the stage, for which he showed a remarkable inclination, in the tragedy of " Theodosius," Jan. 8, 1776. In 1783 he first acted at Drury Lane, of which theatre he be- came manager in 1790. From this time until his retirement he stood at the head of his pro- fession. In 1803 he became a part owner of Oovent Garden theatre, which he managed prosperously until its destruction by fire in 1808. The opening of the new theatre in the succeeding year under his management was the signal for a series of tumults, known as the O. P. (" old price ") riots, excited by the increased prices required for admission. For upward of 60 nights Kemble and the members of his family were obliged to endure every species of insult ; but a compromise was final- ly effected, and the theatre was liberally and successfully managed until Kemble's retirement from the stage, June 23, 1817, an occasion commemorated by the poet Campbell in one of his most finished odes. The latter part of his life was passed in Lausanne, whither he had retired for the benefit of his health. In the personation of the dramatic heroes, Cato, Coriolanus, King John, Wolsey, Macbeth, and Lear, he had no rival among contemporaneous actors ; and in characters of a reflective cast generally he is probably still unequalled on the English stage. As a manager he distinguished himself by many splendid revivals of Shake- speare's plays. In private life he was highly esteemed. III. George Stephen, brother of the preceding, born at Kington, Herefordshire, May 3, 1758, died near Durham, June 5, 1822. He was intended for the medical profession, but, following his inclination, went upon the stage, and made his debut in London in Sep- tember, 1783. For many years subsequently he was the manager of a provincial company. He was a good actor, but in the latter part of his life became so corpulent as to be almost in- capacitated for any other part than Falstaff, which he frequently acted. IV. Elizabeth (Mrs. Whitlock), sister of the preceding, born in Warrington, Lancashire, April 2, 1761, died Feb. 27, 1836. She first appeared at Drury Lane theatre in February, 1783, as Portia. In 1785 she was married to Charles Edward Whitlock, a provincial manager and actor, and seven years later accompanied her husband to the United States, where they performed for many years in the principal cities. Mrs. Whit- lock became the most popular actress of the day in America, and in Philadelphia frequently performed before President Washington and other distinguished persons. She returned to England in 1807 with a competency, and retired from the stage. In personal appearance and voice she is said to have strongly resembled her sister Mrs. Siddons. V. Charles, the 11 th child of Roger Kemble, born in Brecon, South Wales, Nov. 27, 1775, died in London, Nov. 12, 1854. He was educated at the English college in Douai, and upon returning to England in 1792 received a situation in the general post office. He soon abandoned this for the stage, and, after several trials in the provinces, made his first appearance at Drury Lane in April, 1794, playing for the occasion Malcolm to John Kemble's Macbeth and Mrs. Siddons's Lady Macbeth. For several years he took only sec- ondary parts, and by comparatively slow de- grees indicated that he possessed the dramatic genius of the family. In 1800 he first ap- peared as a writer for the stage in an adapta- tion of Mercier's Deierteur, entitled "The Point of Honor," and subsequently he furnish- ed many similar pieces from the German and French for the London theatres. He began meanwhile to acquire considerable repute in his profession, and was accounted one of the best genteel comedians of his time, excelling in such parts as Benedick, Petruchio, Archer, Ranger, Charles Surface, &c. ; and also in that numerous class of serious characters rep- resented by Faulconbridge, Edgar, Cassio, Mark Antony, &c., for all of which his hand- some person eminently qualified him. In 1832 he made a successful tour in the United States with his daughter, Miss Fanny Kemble, and in 1840 closed his career as an actor. Shortly afterward he was appointed examiner of plays in England. VI. Frances Anne (Mrs. Butler), best known as Fanny Kemble, daughter of the preceding, born in London in 1811. Her mother, long known on the English stage as Mrs. Charles Kemble, was originally a dan- seuse at the opera house, London, as Miss De Camp. She manifested no special predilection for the stage, but was induced, in consequence of the embarrassed circumstances of her fami- ly, to make her debut at Covent Garden, then under the management of her father, in Octo- ber, 1829. On this occasion she played Juliet, her father taking the part of Romeo and her mother that of the nurse, with complete suc- cess, notwithstanding that six weeks previous she had no thought of embarking in a dramatic career. For the three succeeding years she performed leading parts in tragedy and comedy with great applause, distinguishing herself par- ticularly in Juliet, Portia, Bianca in "Fazio," Julia in " The Hunchback " (the latter being originally personated by her), Belvidera, Isabel- la, Lady Teazle, and Louise de Savoy, in her own play of "Francis the First," written when she was 17 years old, and received with great approbation. In 1832 she accompanied her