Mary Anne Keeley
Encyclopedia
Mary Anne Keeley, née Goward (22 November 1805 - 12 March 1899) was an English actress and actor-manager
.
She was born at Ipswich
, her father being a brazier
and tinman. After some experience in the provinces, she first appeared on the stage in London
on July 2, 1825, in the opera Rosina
. It was not long before she gave up singing parts in favour of drama proper, where her powers of character-acting could have scope.
In June 1829 she married Robert Keeley
(1793-1869), an admirable comedian, with whom she had often appeared. Between 1832 and 1842 they acted at Covent Garden
, at the Adelphi
with John Buckstone, at the Olympic
with Charles Mathews
, and at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
with William Charles Macready
. In 1836 they visited America. In 1838 she made her first great success as Nydia, the blind girl, in a dramatized version of Bulwer-Lytton's
The Last Days of Pompeii
, and followed this with an equally striking impersonation of Smike in Nicholas Nickleby.
In 1839 came her decisive triumph with her picturesque and spirited acting as the hero of a play founded upon Harrison Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard
. So dangerous was considered the popularity of the play, with its glorification of the prison-breaking felon, that the Lord Chamberlain
ultimately forbade the performance of any piece upon the subject. It is perhaps mainly as Jack Sheppard
that Keeley lived in the memory of playgoers, despite her long subsequent career in plays more worthy of her remarkable gifts.
Under Macready's management she played Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice
, and Audrey in As You Like It
. She managed the Lyceum Theatre
with her husband from 1844 to 1847; acted with Benjamin Webster and Charles Kean
at the Haymarket
; returned for five years to the Adelphi; and made her last regular public appearance at the Lyceum in 1859. A public reception, organised by the artist Walter Goodman
, was held for her at this theatre on her 90th birthday.
Keeley died in 1899 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery
, London.
Mary Anne and Robert Keeley had two daughters, Mary Lucy (circa 1830-1870) and Louise (1835-1877), both of whom followed their parents on to the stage. Mary Lucy married the writer Albert Richard Smith
, while Louise married the criminal advocate Montagu Williams
, later Queen's Counsel
.
, The Keeleys On Stage and At Home, London: Bentley and Son 1895.
Actor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the company's business and financial arrangements, sometimes taking over the management of a theatre, to perform plays of their own choice and in which they will usually star...
.
She was born at Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, her father being a brazier
Brazier
A brazier is a container for fire, generally taking the form of an upright standing or hanging metal bowl or box. Used for holding burning coal as well as fires, a brazier allows for a source of light, heat, or cooking...
and tinman. After some experience in the provinces, she first appeared on the stage in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on July 2, 1825, in the opera Rosina
Rosina
Rosina may refer to:*Rosina, Slovakia, a municipality in Slovakia*Rosina, Bulgaria, a village in Targovishte Municipality*Rosina Storchio, Italian soprano*Alessandro Rosina, an Italian footballer*a figure from The Barber of Seville...
. It was not long before she gave up singing parts in favour of drama proper, where her powers of character-acting could have scope.
In June 1829 she married Robert Keeley
Robert Keeley (comedian)
Robert Keeley was an actor-manager, comedian and female impersonator of the nineteenth century. In 1823 he originated the role of 'Fritz' in Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein, a stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein.-Early life:Robert Keeley was born in London as one of...
(1793-1869), an admirable comedian, with whom she had often appeared. Between 1832 and 1842 they acted at Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, at the Adelphi
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
with John Buckstone, at the Olympic
Olympic Theatre
The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...
with Charles Mathews
Charles Mathews
Charles Mathews was an English theatre manager and comic actor, well-known during his time for his gift of impersonation and skill at table entertainment...
, and at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
with William Charles Macready
William Charles Macready
-Life:He was born in London, and educated at Rugby.It was his intention to go up to Oxford, but in 1809 the embarrassed affairs of his father, the lessee of several provincial theatres, called him to share the responsibilities of theatrical management. On 7 June 1810 he made a successful first...
. In 1836 they visited America. In 1838 she made her first great success as Nydia, the blind girl, in a dramatized version of Bulwer-Lytton's
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton PC , was an English politician, poet, playwright, and novelist. He was immensely popular with the reading public and wrote a stream of bestselling dime-novels which earned him a considerable fortune...
The Last Days of Pompeii
The Last Days of Pompeii
The Last Days of Pompeii is a novel written by the baron Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. Once a very widely read book and now relatively neglected, it culminates in the cataclysmic destruction of the city of Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.The novel uses its characters to contrast...
, and followed this with an equally striking impersonation of Smike in Nicholas Nickleby.
In 1839 came her decisive triumph with her picturesque and spirited acting as the hero of a play founded upon Harrison Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard (novel)
Jack Sheppard is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in Bentley's Miscellany from 1839 to 1840, with illustrations by George Cruikshank...
. So dangerous was considered the popularity of the play, with its glorification of the prison-breaking felon, that the Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
ultimately forbade the performance of any piece upon the subject. It is perhaps mainly as Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard was a notorious English robber, burglar and thief of early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but took to theft and burglary in 1723, with little more than a year of his training to complete...
that Keeley lived in the memory of playgoers, despite her long subsequent career in plays more worthy of her remarkable gifts.
Under Macready's management she played Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
, and Audrey in As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
. She managed the Lyceum Theatre
Lyceum Theatre (London)
The Lyceum Theatre is a 2,000-seat West End theatre located in the City of Westminster, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand. There has been a theatre with this name in the locality since 1765, and the present site opened on 14 July 1834 to a design by Samuel Beazley. The building was unique...
with her husband from 1844 to 1847; acted with Benjamin Webster and Charles Kean
Charles Kean
Charles John Kean , was born at Waterford, Ireland, the son of the actor Edmund Kean.After preparatory education at Worplesdon and at Greenford, near Harrow, he was sent to Eton College, where he remained three years...
at the Haymarket
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
; returned for five years to the Adelphi; and made her last regular public appearance at the Lyceum in 1859. A public reception, organised by the artist Walter Goodman
Walter Goodman
Walter Goodman was a British painter, illustrator and author.The son of British portrait painter Julia Salaman and London linen draper and town councillor, Louis Goodman , he studied with J. M. Leigh and at the Royal Academy in London, where he was admitted as a student in 1851...
, was held for her at this theatre on her 90th birthday.
Keeley died in 1899 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery is located near Earl's Court in South West London, England . It is managed by The Royal Parks and is one of the Magnificent Seven...
, London.
Mary Anne and Robert Keeley had two daughters, Mary Lucy (circa 1830-1870) and Louise (1835-1877), both of whom followed their parents on to the stage. Mary Lucy married the writer Albert Richard Smith
Albert Richard Smith
Albert Richard Smith , was an English author, entertainer, and mountaineer.-Biography:Smith was born at Chertsey, Surrey. The son of a surgeon, he studied medicine in London and in Paris, and his first literary effort was an account of his life there, which appeared in the Mirror. He gradually...
, while Louise married the criminal advocate Montagu Williams
Montagu Williams
Montagu Stephen Williams Q.C. was an English teacher, army officer, actor, playwright, barrister and magistrate....
, later Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
.
See also
See Walter GoodmanWalter Goodman
Walter Goodman was a British painter, illustrator and author.The son of British portrait painter Julia Salaman and London linen draper and town councillor, Louis Goodman , he studied with J. M. Leigh and at the Royal Academy in London, where he was admitted as a student in 1851...
, The Keeleys On Stage and At Home, London: Bentley and Son 1895.