Josephine Clifton was a stage actress who became known as "the first American actress to star in London".

Life and career

The early years of Josephine Clifton seem to be lost, what little information exists is controversial. Most historians believe she was born in New York and her surname was Miller, others think she may have come from Philadelphia.

In the fall of 1831, Clifton met Thomas Hamblin, actor and manager of the Bowery Theater. He was well known for his philandering ways, so although she had no acting experience and because she was a great beauty, Hamblin made her his protegee and gave her the "beautiful ingenue" role in many of his productions. On September 21, 1831, she made her debut as Belvidera in Venice Preserved.
She was Elvira in Pizarro and played Lady MacBeth. She moved to the Park Theatre to play Bianca in Fazio.

Around 1834, amidst rumors of affairs, Clifton moved to London where she appeared at Drury Lane

Drury Lane

Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....

 and became "the first American actress to star in London." She returned to New York where in 1836, Epes Sargent

Epes Sargent

Epes Sargent was an American editor, poet and playwright.-Early life:Epes Sargent was the son of Epes Sargent and Hannah Dane Coffin , and was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on September 27, 1813, where his father was a ship master. In 1818 the family moved to Roxbury, Massachusetts...

 wrote a five-act play, The bride of Genoa, for her which was successfully produced by the Tremont Theatre. She then performed her most famous role, the title part in Bianca Visconti, based on the career of Francesco I Sforza

Francesco I Sforza

Francesco I Sforza was an Italian condottiero, the founder of the Sforza dynasty in Milan, Italy. He was the brother of Alessandro, with whom he often fought.-Early life:...

. This play was written for her by Nathaniel Parker Willis

Nathaniel Parker Willis

Nathaniel Parker Willis , also known as N. P. Willis, was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He became the highest-paid magazine writer of his day. For a time, he was the employer of former...

 in 1837, when he won the $1000 prize in a contest given by her for the best blank verse

Blank verse

Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...

 tragedy to suit her talents.

Later years

She spent some of her later years in Philadelphia where she often played opposite the actor Edwin Forrest

Edwin Forrest

Edwin Forrest was an American actor.-Early life:Forrest was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of Scottish and German descent. His father died and he was brought up by his mother, a German woman of humble origins. He was educated at the common schools in Philadelphia, and early evinced a taste...

. In 1846, she married Robert Place, the manager of the American Theater in New Orleans, but she died unexpectedly the next year. After her death it was reported that her relationship with Forrest had been much more than professional, and Clifton was named as a factor during Forrest's notorious divorce.