(1875 – ?) Sarah Brooke trained with the Thomas Thorne Company and after touring with them made her London debut in 1896. She then toured with the company of Johnston Forbes-Robertson and had the opportunity to play Desdemona. At Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1899 she appeared in King John. The next year, 1900, she was at the Lyceum Theatre, London, where she played Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Katherine in Henry V; she played Katherine again in 1905, butRead more
Sir Francis Benson
(1858-1939) While at New College, Oxford, Benson produced Agamemnon, the first play to be performed there in the original Greek. In 1882, he made his first professional appearance at the Lyceum Theatre, London—then under the management of Sir Henry Irving—playing the role of Paris in Romeo & Juliet. The next year, he formed a company of his own. In 1886 he married Gertrude Constance Featherstonhaugh (1860–1946), who acted in his company and played leading parts with him. Benson continued toRead more
Janet Achurch
(1864-1916) Janet Achurch, born into a theatrical family in 1864, made her professional debut in 1883 and the next year in 1884 joined the company of Frank Benson. There she of course had opportunity to play many Shakespeare roles, including Desdemona, Gertrude, and Lady Macbeth. It was over a decade later that she again played Shakespeare as Cleopatra in 1897 at the Queen’s Theatre, Manchester. In 1898 she played Lady Macbeth at the same theater. Her last role in ShakespeareRead more
Sybil Arundale
(1882-1965) Either through choice or through talent, Sybil had a more active career than her sister Grace. Grace had much experience with Shakespeare in her early years before she moved on to lighter fare, but Sybil seems to have played in only a few Shakespeare plays: in 1898 as Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and later as Rosalind in As You Like It. But that is not to say that she was not a serious dramatic actor. When IbsenRead more
Alexandra Carlisle
(1886-1936) Ms. Carlisle’s first professional appearance in 1903 was in a Shakespeare comedy when she played Audrey in As You Like It; that same year she also played Maria in Twelfth Night. When Herbert Beerbohm Tree revived Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice in 1908, she played Olivia and Portia. In 1935, the year before she died, she turned from the comedies to the tragedies, playing Emilia in Othello and Lady MacDuff in Macbeth.Read more
Charles Coburn
(1877-1961) Readers of a certain age will readily recognize Charles Coburn from his career in the movies. From 1933 until his death in 1961 he appeared in ninety-three films and television shows; he became such a celebrity that he made personal guest appearances in eleven additional programs as himself. Along the way he picked up an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actor, The More the Merrier, 1943) as well as several nominations for his film roles. He was born in Macon andRead more
Ivah Wills Coburn
(1882-1937) Ivah Wills was co-founder in 1905 of the Coburn Shakespearean Players with Charles Coburn, whom she married the following year in 1905. They performed together, primarily in the plays of Shakespeare, for many years until her death in 1937 due to heart disease.Read more