Marianne Caldwell

(1866-1933) Marianne Caldwell had ample opportunity to play various parts in Shakespeare after her London debut in 1886. She played for several seasons with Forbes Robertson in his company—which had several of Shakespeare’s plays in the repertory—at the Lyric Theatre in New York City. In 1907, she played Audrey at His Majesty’s Theatre in Oscar Asche‘s revival of As You Like It. In 1913-14, she toured Australia and South Africa with Lewis Waller, another Shakespearean, and his company. From 1916Read more

Lily Hall Caine

(1869-1914) Lily Hall Caine’s only role in Shakespeare was as Lady Anne in Richard III in Manchester in 1884. Her brother was Sir Hall Caine (1853-1931), a popular novelist who has since fallen out of fashion. Caine played parts on tour in some of the novels her brother adapted for the stage. Caine played the part of “Glory” in The Christian in 1898 at the Duke of York’s Theatre, a play which when revised was an immediate success and ran forRead more

Hilda Bruce-Potter

(1888-?) Her first stage appearance was in 1907 and she soon joined the English Drama Society that same year and first played Shakespeare. The next year, 1907, she joined Miss Annie Horniman’s company at the Midland Theatre, Manchester, where she stayed until 1911. Among the many parts she undertook were Hero in Much Ado About Nothing. She also played Celia in As You Like It at the Queen’s Theatre, Manchester, in 1908. She rejoined Miss Horniman’s company at the GaietyRead more

Harvey Braban

(1883-1943) Before he began touring with Frank Benson—where he no doubt had ample opportunity to play Shakespeare—Braban worked briefly with Beerbohm Tree in his first stage appearance in 1905. He went to New York in 1912 where he played Horatio in Hamlet. In 1919 he took the role of the ghost in Martin Harvey’s production of Hamlet and the next year he appeared as Antonio in The Merchant of Venice. He toured with Martin Harvey in Canada in 1923-24 whereRead more

Lady Constance Benson

(1860-1946) Using the stage name Constance Featherstonhaugh in her first stage appearance she played Juliet with Kyrle Bellew in 1883. She soon after joined Frank Benson‘s company and they married in 1886. With Frank’s company she of course played a number of Shakespeare parts, almost all the female leads in the repertory in every major theatre in Great Britain. She married Benson in 1886 until they separated due to his affair with another actress, Genevieve Smeek. Constance became Lady BensonRead more

John H. Barnes

John H. Barnes first played Shakespeare as Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice in 1879 at the Lyceum Theatre; this was eight years after his first professional stage appearance. He spent time in both England and the United States and played Shakespeare only intermittantly. He played in Macbeth in 1882 and the same play again as Banquo in 1911. His last performances in Shakespeare were with Johnston Forbes-Robertson during his 1913 farewell season; Barnes played both Polonius and Iago. These wereRead more

Gordon Bailey

(1875 – ?) Gordon Bailey made his stage debut in Birmingham in 1894 and his first London appearance in 1899 at the Prince of Wales’s Theatre as Egeus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Over the years he returned to Shakespeare regularly. In 1908 he played first Paris, then Mercutio, and finally Romeo in Romeo & Juliet in Matheson Lang‘s production of the play at the Lyceum Theatre, London. In 1909 he played Lear and in 1913 Mercutio again. He playedRead more