Robert Keeley (comedian)
Encyclopedia
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
.
to Hansard
, but dissatisfied with this career he joined a travelling acting company. He was at the Richmond Theatre in 1813 before moving to Norwich
for four years and then to the West London Theatre
. He made his professional London debut at the Olympic Theatre
in 1818 as Leporello in Don Giovanni in London, based on Mozart
's opera. In 1819 Keeley appeared at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
, and played the original Jemmy Green in Tom and Jerry, or Life in London
by William Thomas Moncrieff
at the Adelphi Theatre
during 1821-2. At the end of 1821 Keeley appeared at Sadler's Wells Theatre
under Daniel Egerton
, and in April 1822 he played Jerry in Pierce Egan
's Life in London.
at the Royal Opera House
in Covent Garden
. In 1823 he appeared at the English Opera House as the original Fritz
in Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein by Richard Brinsley Peake
; and the Gardener in Frozen Lake by James Planché
, both roles having been written for him. Returning to Covent Garden for several years, Keeley went on to appear in Ben Jonson
's Every Man in his Humour
and Richard Brinsley Sheridan
's The Rivals
. On 26 June 1829 he married Mary Anne Goward
who afterwards was billed as Mrs Keeley and who regularly appeared with him. Between 1832 and 1842 they acted at Covent Garden
, at the Adelphi
with John Buckstone, at the Olympic
with Charles Mathews
, and at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
with William Charles Macready
. In 1837 they visited America, but the venture was not a success and they returned to Great Britain
in 1838 and joined the company of Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
, acting with her until 1841. With his wife he managed the Lyceum Theatre
from 1844 to 1847, putting on, among other productions, adaptations from the works of Charles Dickens
; here he played the nurse Mrs. Gamp in Martin Chuzzlewit
, for which role he was coached by Dickens himself, Trotty Veck in The Chimes
, and Mrs Caudle in Mrs Caudle's Curtain Lectures by Douglas Jerrold. It was said of the 5' 2" red-headed Keeley "however he may multiply his characters, vary his dresses, his wigs, or his words, it is Robert Keeley, and nothing else".
with Charles Kean
, appearing as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, and a carrier in a performance of Henry IV
in a Royal Command Performance
before Queen Victoria
at Windsor Castle
. Keeley retired from managing the Princess's Theatre in 1852; however, in November 1852 he played Sir Hugh Evans in The Merry Wives of Windsor
alongside his wife Mary Anne Keeley
and their daughter, Mary Lucy Keeley. The Keeleys then appeared at the Haymarket Theatre
, the Adelphi Theatre
and the Olympic Theatre
. In September 1856 they appeared at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
. He played a parody
of himself in Keeley Worried by Buckstone (1853) opposite John Baldwin Buckstone
.
Robert Keeley's last appearance before his retirement was at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
in March 1857, in Thomas Morton
's A Cure for the Heartache. He appeared in benefit performances in May 1861 as Touchstone
in a scene from As You Like It
at the Royal Opera House
in Covent Garden
, and in another in March 1862 he appeared in John Oxenford
's 1835 farce
Twice Killed.
Robert Keeley died on 3 February 1869 at his home in Brompton, London, and was buried in Brompton Cemetery
. He had two daughters with his wife: Mary Lucy (c. 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
.
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...
, comedian and female impersonator of the nineteenth century. In 1823 he originated the role of 'Fritz'
Fritz (Frankenstein)
Fritz is a fictional character who appears in the 1931 Universal film version of Mary Shelley' novel, Frankenstein. He was played by Dwight Frye...
in Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein, a stage adaptation of Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
's novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
.
Early life
Robert Keeley was born in London as one of sixteen children, his father beng a watchmaker. Keeley was an apprentice printerPrinter
Printer may refer to:* Printer , a person or a company* Printer , a hardware device* Optical printer for motion picture films* The Moscow subway station Pechatniki, whose name means "Printers"...
to Hansard
Hansard
Hansard is the name of the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, an early printer and publisher of these transcripts.-Origins:...
, but dissatisfied with this career he joined a travelling acting company. He was at the Richmond Theatre in 1813 before moving to Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
for four years and then to the West London Theatre
Scala Theatre
The Scala Theatre was a theatre in London, sited on Charlotte Street, off Tottenham Court Road, in the London Borough of Camden. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and the theatre was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire...
. He made his professional London debut at the Olympic Theatre
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...
in 1818 as Leporello in Don Giovanni in London, based on Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's opera. In 1819 Keeley appeared at the 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,...
, and played the original Jemmy Green in Tom and Jerry, or Life in London
Tom and Jerry, or Life in London
Tom and Jerry, or Life in London was a stage adaptation by William Moncrieff of Pierce Egan's Life in London, or Days and Nights of Jerry Hawthorne and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom. It ran at the Adelphi Theatre in London between 1821 and 1823 and at several New York theaters beginning in 1823...
by William Thomas Moncrieff
William Thomas Moncrieff
William Thomas Moncrieff was an English dramatist.-Biography:He was born in London, the son of a Strand tradesman named Thomas. The name Moncrieff he assumed for theatrical purposes...
at the Adelphi Theatre
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...
during 1821-2. At the end of 1821 Keeley appeared at Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
under Daniel Egerton
Daniel Egerton
-Life:Egerton was born in the city of London on 14 April 1772. According to various accounts, presumably supplied by himself, he was 'bred to the law in a public office.' Another source says, however, 'he was in business near Whitechapel, and made his first attempt on the stage in this assumed name...
, and in April 1822 he played Jerry in Pierce Egan
Pierce Egan
Pierce Egan was an early British journalist, sportswriter, and writer on popular culture.Egan was born in the London suburbs, where he spent his life. By 1812 he had established himself as the country's leading 'reporter of sporting events', which at the time meant mainly prize-fights and...
's Life in London.
Theatrical career
Later in 1822 Keeley appeared with Charles KembleCharles Kemble
Charles Kemble was a British actor.-Life:The youngest son of Roger Kemble, and younger brother of John Philip Kemble, Stephen Kemble and Sarah Siddons, he was born at Brecon, South Wales. Like John Philip, he was educated at Douai...
at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in 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...
. In 1823 he appeared at the English Opera House as the original Fritz
Fritz (Frankenstein)
Fritz is a fictional character who appears in the 1931 Universal film version of Mary Shelley' novel, Frankenstein. He was played by Dwight Frye...
in Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein by Richard Brinsley Peake
Richard Brinsley Peake
Richard Brinsley Peake was a dramatist of the early nineteenth century best remembered today for his 1823 play Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein, a work based on the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley....
; and the Gardener in Frozen Lake by James Planché
James Planche
James Robinson Planché was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including extravaganza, farce, comedy, burletta, melodrama and opera...
, both roles having been written for him. Returning to Covent Garden for several years, Keeley went on to appear in Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
's Every Man in his Humour
Every Man in His Humour
Every Man in His Humour is a 1598 play by the English playwright Ben Jonson. The play belongs to the subgenre of the "humours comedy," in which each major character is dominated by an overriding humour or obsession.-Performance and Publication:...
and Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
's The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
. On 26 June 1829 he married Mary Anne Goward
Mary Anne Keeley
Mary Anne Keeley, née Goward 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...
who afterwards was billed as Mrs Keeley and who regularly appeared with him. 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 the 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 1837 they visited America, but the venture was not a success and they returned to Great Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1838 and joined the company of Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in Mozart and Rossini works. While popular in her time, she was more notable as a theatre producer and manager...
, acting with her until 1841. With his wife he 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...
from 1844 to 1847, putting on, among other productions, adaptations from the works of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
; here he played the nurse Mrs. Gamp in Martin Chuzzlewit
Martin Chuzzlewit
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialized between 1843-1844. Dickens himself proclaimed Martin Chuzzlewit to be his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels...
, for which role he was coached by Dickens himself, Trotty Veck in The Chimes
The Chimes
The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, a short novel by Charles Dickens, was written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol and one year before The Cricket on the Hearth...
, and Mrs Caudle in Mrs Caudle's Curtain Lectures by Douglas Jerrold. It was said of the 5' 2" red-headed Keeley "however he may multiply his characters, vary his dresses, his wigs, or his words, it is Robert Keeley, and nothing else".
Later years
From August 1850 to 1852 Keeley shared the management of the Princess's TheatrePrincess's Theatre, London
The Princess's Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street, London. The building opened in 1828 as the "Queen's Bazaar" and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts. It was converted into a theatre and opened in 1836 as the Princess's Theatre, named for then Princess...
with 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...
, appearing as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, and a carrier in a performance of Henry IV
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV , and Henry V...
in a Royal Command Performance
Royal Command Performance
For the annual Royal Variety Performance performed in Britain for the benefit of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, see Royal Variety Performance...
before Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
. Keeley retired from managing the Princess's Theatre in 1852; however, in November 1852 he played Sir Hugh Evans in The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
alongside his wife Mary Anne Keeley
Mary Anne Keeley
Mary Anne Keeley, née Goward 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...
and their daughter, Mary Lucy Keeley. The Keeleys then appeared at the Haymarket Theatre
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...
, the Adelphi Theatre
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...
and the Olympic Theatre
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...
. In September 1856 they appeared at the 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,...
. He played a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of himself in Keeley Worried by Buckstone (1853) opposite John Baldwin Buckstone
John Baldwin Buckstone
John Baldwin Buckstone was an English actor, playwright and comedian who wrote 150 plays, the first of which was produced in 1826....
.
Robert Keeley's last appearance before his retirement was at the 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,...
in March 1857, in Thomas Morton
Thomas Morton (playwright)
Thomas Morton was an English playwright.-Life:Morton was born in the city of Durham. He was the son of John and Grace Morton of Whickham, County Durham. He went to London to study law at Lincoln's Inn, but abandoned his studies for playwriting. For much of his life, Thomas lived in Pangbourne in...
's A Cure for the Heartache. He appeared in benefit performances in May 1861 as Touchstone
Touchstone (As You Like It)
Touchstone is an interesting fictional character in Shakespeare's play As You Like It. Touchstone is the court fool or jester, portrayed as a wise man with a dry, cynical wit. Throughout the play he comments on the other characters of the play and thus, contributes to a better understanding of the...
in a scene from 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...
at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in 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...
, and in another in March 1862 he appeared in John Oxenford
John Oxenford
John Oxenford , English dramatist, was born at Camberwell, London, England.-Life:He began his literary career by writing on finance...
's 1835 farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
Twice Killed.
Robert Keeley died on 3 February 1869 at his home in Brompton, London, and was 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...
. He had two daughters with his wife: Mary Lucy (c. 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...
.
External links
- Photographs of Keeley - the National Portrait Gallery, London website
- Keeley in Alhambra; or, The Three Beautiful Princesses (1851) on Footlights Notes
- Letter from M.A. Keeley & R. Keeley, Theatre Royal Lyceum to Mrs [Sarah Desmond Macready, Bristol, 15 May 1844 - University of BristolUniversity of BristolThe University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
Theatre Collection] - 'Mr. Keely, as Nicodemus Crowquill in Peter Wilkins. [West's Theatrical Portraits. No. 96. (1827)' - New York Public LibraryNew York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
Digital Gallery] - http://www.archive.org/details/keeleysonstageat00gooduoftFull text of Walter GoodmanWalter GoodmanWalter 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...
's The Keeleys On Stage and At Home London: Bentley and Son 1895 on Open LibraryOpen LibraryOpen Library is an online project intended to create “one web page for every book ever published”. Open Library is a project of the non-profit Internet Archive and has been funded in part by a grant from the California State Library and the Kahle/Austin Foundation.-Books for the blind and...
]