Edmund Kean

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Edmund Kean, detail of a pencil drawing by Samuel Cousins, 1814; in the National Portrait Gallery, … (credit: Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London)

(born March 17?, 1789, London, Eng. — died May 15, 1833, London) British actor. He acted with a touring stage company from 1805, and in 1814 he won acclaim in London with his innovative portrayal of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. He went on to specialize in other Shakespearean villains, including Richard III, Iago, and Macbeth. He also excelled at playing Othello and Hamlet, as well as Barabas in Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta. Though praised for his passionate and sensational stage portrayals, he became unpopular for his ungovernable behaviour offstage, marked by excessive drinking and a suit for adultery (1825). His son Charles (1811 – 68) was an actor-manager noted for his revivals of Shakespearean plays.

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Kean, Edmund (1787?–1833), actor. The first great English performer to visit America while still at the height of his powers, he made his debut at the Anthony Street Theatre in 1820 as Richard III, the most popular Shakespearean role of his era. The Evening Post remarked, “We saw the most complete actor . . . that ever appeared on our boards,” continuing, “Mr. Kean appears to be beneath the middle size . . . his features are good and his eye particularly expressive and commanding; his voice, in which he is most deficient, is, however, in its lower tones, sonorous, and he has the power of throwing it out so as to be heard at the extremity of the house.” He followed his Richard with Othello, Shylock, Brutus (in Payne's tragedy), Hamlet, Sir Giles Overreach, King Lear, and Macbeth. Kean performed for a percentage of the gross and for many nights received £125, far and away the highest figure yet paid to a performer in America. However, his tour ran into problems when he refused to appear before an uncrowded house in Boston later in the season. The brouhaha that ensued prompted him to leave the country. After he returned in 1825 less temperate journals revived the controversy, and when he attempted to appear again as Richard at the Park Theatre a riot broke out. He soon mollified playgoers and acted across the country for the rest of the season and part of the next, but he never again revisited America. Biography: Edmund Kean: The Story of an Actor, W. J. Macqueen‐Pope, 1960. His son Charles [John] KEAN (1811–68) had only begun his career as an actor when he made his American debut at the Park Theatre in 1830 as Richard III, then continued by offering many of the same parts associated with his father. He later returned to America three times and, with his wife Ellen Tree, presented a repertory of standard classic favorites interspersed with such once popular contemporary works as The Hunchback and The Iron Chest. James E. Murdoch recalled, “Charles Kean was an imitator of his father's style of acting. But to the method which made the elder Kean famous the son added a grace and finish that gave repose and beauty to what would otherwise have been a mere copy. . . . Of all our tragedians of the analytic and passionate order, approaching the mechanical in execution, Charles Kean may be said to have been the most finished, and yet the most earnest.” Biography: The Life and Theatrical Times of Charles Kean, John W. Cole, 1859.

Considered one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the nineteenth century, Edmund Kean (1789-1833) restored authenticity to the Bard's works, where others had seen fit to change and even censor them. His performances and his life soon became legendary, but heavy drinking brought a premature end to his career.

Because there is no record of Kean's birth, the exact date is open to debate, but the best estimate places it on March 17, 1789 in London. He was the illegitimate son of Ann Carey, an actress, and Edmund Kean, an actor and apprentice surveyor. The senior Edmund Kean committed suicide at age 22, when his son was only three years old. His mother was not around, and the boy was cared for by a Charlotte Tidswell.

Tidswell was also an actress, a bit player at the Drury Lane Theatre Company. She had been the mistress of the child's uncle, Moses Kean, a London entertainer and ventriloquist. It is believed that the death of Moses Kean may have led Edmund Kean Sr. to commit suicide.

At the time she took on the responsibility of looking after young Edmund, Tidswell had also been the mistress of the Duke of Norfolk. She was unable to make use of that connection to get ahead, but she was nevertheless ambitious for the boy. It was she who instilled the desire to become an actor in Kean (he first appeared in a play in 1793 at age four), but she was less successful at her attempts at discipline. By age 15, Kean was on his own, a young man whose only professional desire was to create a life in the theater for himself.

The Provincial Actor

In 1804, Kean went to Sheerness in Kent, and joined the Samuel Jerrold Company, where he was initially paid 15 shillings a week. He spent a year there, treated like the prodigy he probably was, before joining a theater company in Belfast that was directed by the influential Michael Adkins. In Belfast, he had the opportunity to observe some of London's better actors (who toured the provinces during the summer), but he had less opportunity to act. The frustration of his apprenticeship in the theater would mark Kean's life over the next nine years, ultimately leading to his alcoholism.

Perhaps the one bright spot during his time in the Belfast company was when the prominent English actress Sarah Siddons performed and Kean had a bit role. Later in life, he managed to fabricate their brief contact into an anecdote that reinforced his legend as a hard drinker.

By 1806 Kean was back in London, at the Haymarket Theatre where, at Charlotte Tisdale's recommendation, he had secured another junior position. Kean lasted only a few months at the Haymarket. His already outsized ego would not permit him to understudy a fellow actor, Alexander Rae, who was only a few years older than him and who, feeling the power of the lead actor, insulted the diminutive Kean.

As a result Kean left once again for Kent, where he joined the company of one Mrs. Baker at Turnbridge Wells. He spent a year there before returning to Jerrold's company. With Jerrold, he once again enjoyed lead roles. This time Kean probably would have stayed longer with Jerrold (he left early in 1808) except he found himself in trouble with a townsman (he had seduced the man's wife) and was forced to leave just ahead of a vengeful mob. His next stop was Gloucester.

Stormy Marriage

One of the members of the Gloucester company was Mary Chambers, originally from Ireland, with whom Kean fell in love almost immediately. They had a whirlwind courtship and married on July 17, 1808. Soon, Kean, his new wife, and his sister-in-law, Susan, joined a theatre company in Cheltenham.

The Keans would have two sons: Howard, born in 1809, who died at the age of four; and Charles, born in 1811, who went on to become a distinguished actor himself, and who married the actress Ellen Tree.

By all accounts, most notably his wife's, the Kean marriage was an unhappy one. During the early years of the marriage, Kean was struggled to make a living in the provinces. The family, especially during the two years between Charles' birth and Howard's death, was dangerously close to extreme poverty.

A Star Is Born

The turning point in Kean's career came in 1814, when he appeared as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at Drury Lane. It wasn't just a great performance, but an innovative one. Kean was too short to match the era's ideal for the dramatic actor, as set by the tall, stately John Philip Kemble. Kean's ingenuity was to recognize what his own talents were and to make use of them.

The character of Shylock, for example, was a perfect role for Kean's short stature, expressive eyes, and rich voice. The real innovation came in how Kean chose to play the role, as a dark, twisted, evil person, rather than a comic one, which stage tradition had dictated until that time. Kean's performance was sensational and it prodded a London theatre world seemingly ready for change. From then on Kean's life in the theater was secure.

Kean quickly proved himself a master at portraying Shakespeare's classic villains, such as Iago, Macbeth, and Richard III. He also won rave reviews for his Othello and Hamlet. Kean, of course, didn't limit himself to Shakespeare; he also undertook such roles as Barabas in Marlowe's The Jew of Malta and Sir Giles Overreach in Massinger's A New Way to Pay Old Debts. Yet Shakespeare, especially the villains, remained for Kean the signature of his career.

In the age of romanticism, Kean was a romantic actor of the first degree. Kean's public persona also fit the bill as he strove to remain foremost on the London stage. Yet the mixture of ego, professional will, insecurity, sensitivity, and alcoholism soon made him a popular target for the London press. Kean remained London's leading dramatic figure for the next 19 years, and in his prime he earned ] 10,000 a year.

Conquered North America

Kean made his New York debut in 1820 in the role of Richard III. He also performed in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston, where he created a scandal by walking out on what he thought was a nearly empty theater and refusing to return for Richard III. This didn't sit well with the Bostonians who thereafter roasted Kean in the press. Yet his sojourn in the United States was largely successful and other North American tours followed on the heels of this success.

Around 1825, Kean's already bad public reputation had undergone further damage when an adulterous affair was made public by the angry husband, a politician who promptly brought a lawsuit against the actor. Kean lost the suit, and his reputation was damaged. But for the most part, he remained popular in North America.

It was in 1826, during a run in Quebec, Canada, where perhaps the strangest event in Kean's legendary career unfolded. During one of his Quebec performances, a group of Huron Indians, were in the audience. Afterward Kean met with them, expressed his admiration for their tribe and his desire to abandon his European heritage.

The Hurons were so taken with Kean that they decided to make him a member of their tribe. In fact, in a ceremony attended by four Hurons as well as some of Kean's Canadian acquaintances, Kean was made a chieftain and given the new name, Alanienouidet. Afterward Kean went to the Huron village to live, and would have stayed indefinitely except his Canadian friends, perhaps fearing for his safety and almost certainly his sanity, removed him from the Huron community. Subsequently, Kean spent some time in an asylum.

For relaxation, when he wasn't enjoying the London nightlife, Kean retired to his Scottish estate. In 1824, he had purchased a house and property from the Marquess of Bute. The house was called Woodend and its isolation offered Kean a welcome contrast to theater life. As was his charming way, he made friends among the local population, even throwing fireworks parties. However, his wife was not so enthused about the place. This, coupled with more affairs by Kean, led to the end of their marriage.

Last Years

The incident with the Huron Indians made it clear that drinking was affecting Kean's mind, yet he still continued to appear on stage. During the 1827-28 season, he appeared at Covent Garden, which was managed by Charles Kemble, John Philip Kemble's younger brother. Though his physical powers were waning-Kean was often ill from too much drink-he seldom displeased the public. Yet it took more of an effort to prepare himself for each performance.

In 1828 he traveled to Paris to act in the Odeon Theatre (with the Odeon's company of English players) but illness and fatigue impaired his performance, and the French were cool toward him. He returned to the English provinces, but settled into Bute for the summer and early autumn.

When he did return to Covent Garden in October of 1828, he was worse than when he left; his performances were uneven. Finally, on January 12, 1829 as he was preparing for a performance of Richard II, Kean collapsed. It was evident even to him that he needed a long rest and he agreed with Kemble to return to Covent Garden for the 1830-31 season.

Kean then returned to Bute, where he had been enjoying a new woman in his life, Ophelia Benjamin. He referred to her as Mrs. Kean, but theirs was anything but a love match. The young Irish woman more or less took over Kean's life, isolating him from his few remaining friends and estranging him from his son, Charles. His isolation became more apparent when he returned to London in November of 1829. His purpose was to assist Charles Kemble to stave off bankruptcy by performing free of charge, but he soon found that Kemble didn't really need his help-Kemble's 18-year-old daughter, Fanny, had practically made Covent Garden solvent single-handedly.

Kean was now on the outside looking in, especially when he became the center of a controversy by deciding to return to Drury Lane rather than play Covent Garden on the nights Fanny Kemble was not available. Kemble was the new toast of the London theater world and Kean was vilified by the press for his perceived selfishness.

Kean persisted at Drury Lane that season, but he eventually returned to Covent Garden, the location of his final performance. It was a staging of Othello that also starred his son Charles, who had re-established friendly relations with his father. Kean's final performance was on March 25, 1833 with Kean playing Othello to Charles's Iago. Kean collapsed on stage and later died on May 15, 1833. With his death an era had passed.

Books

Playfair, Giles, Kean, E.P. Dutton and Co., 1939.

Periodicals

Times Higher Education Supplement, November 21, 1997.

Online

"1826-Edmund Kean among the Hurons," Shakespeare.about.comwebsite,http://shakespeare.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.canadiantheatre.com%2Fk%2Fkeanhuronsdoc.html (December 11, 2000).

"Edmund Kean," freespace.virgin.net website,http://freespace.virginnet/andrew.walters2/edmund.htm (December 11, 2000).

Kean, Edmund (1787-1833). Actor. Son of an itinerant actress, Kean was exploited as an infant prodigy. The impassioned delivery of his appearance at Drury Lane (1814) as Shylock rapidly replenished the theatre's coffers. Barely average height, his flashing, sometimes demoniac approach, which so contrasted with the measured Kemble school, made him one of the most controversial of the early 19th-cent. actors. Famous for his tragic roles of Richard III, Shylock, and Othello, youthful irresponsibility quickly evolved into recklessness, vanity, intolerance of rivals, and drunken debauch.

Kean, Edmund (1787-1833). Great English actor whose dynamic style of playing excited the literary and artistic élite of Paris and inspired a number of rising young French actors (Bocage, Dorval, Lemaître) during the visit of an English theatre company (September 1827-July 1828), when 33 performances of plays by Shakespeare were given. Kean's own performances as Othello and Richard III, like those of the other leading players (Charles Kemble, Macready, Harriet Smithson), revealed Shakespeare in a wholly new light and profoundly influenced the future character of French Romantic drama and the actors associated with it. He was the subject of plays by Dumas père (1836) and Sartre (1953).

[S. Beynon John]

Edmund Kean as Sir Giles Overreach in Massinger's A New Way to Pay Old Debts, b. 1816

Edmund Kean (17 March 1789 – 15 May 1833) was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever. For many years he lived at Keydell House, Horndean.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Discovery 3 Drury Lane and New York 4 Private life 5 Second American visit 6 Decline and death 7 Artistic legacy 8 Eccentricity 9 Appraisals 10 Theatrical works 11 References 12 External links

Early life

Kean was born in London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th century composer and playwright Henry Carey. Kean made his first appearance on the stage, aged four, as Cupid in Jean-Georges Noverre’s ballet of Cymon. As a child his vivacity, cleverness and ready affection made him a universal favourite, but his harsh circumstances and lack of discipline, both helped develop self-reliance and fostered wayward tendencies. About 1794 a few benevolent persons paid for him to go to school, where he did well; but finding the restraint intolerable, he shipped as a cabin boy at Portsmouth. Finding life at sea even more restricting, he pretended to be both deaf and lame so skillfully that he deceived the doctors at Madeira.

On his return to England he sought the protection of his uncle Moses Kean, mimic, ventriloquist and general entertainer, who, besides continuing his pantomimic studies, introduced him to the study of Shakespeare. At the same time Miss Charlotte Tidswell, an actress who had been especially kind to him from infancy, taught him the principles of acting.

On the death of his uncle she took charge of him, and he began the systematic study of the principal Shakespearean characters, displaying the peculiar originality of his genius by interpretations entirely different from those of John Philip Kemble, then considered the great exponent of these roles. Kean’s talents and interesting countenance caused a Mrs Clarke to adopt him, but he took offence at the comments of a visitor and suddenly left her house and went back to his old surroundings.

Discovery

Aged fourteen, he obtained an engagement to play leading characters for twenty nights in York Theatre, appearing as Hamlet, Hastings and Cato.

Shortly afterwards, while he was in Richardson's Theatre, a travelling theatre company, the rumour of his abilities reached George III, who commanded him to appear at Windsor Castle. He subsequently joined Saunders’s circus, where in the performance of an equestrian feat he fell and broke both legs—the accident leaving traces of swelling in his insteps throughout his life.

About this time he picked up music from Charles Incledon, dancing from D’Egville, and fencing from Angelo. In 1807 he played leading parts in the Belfast theatre with Sarah Siddons, who began by calling him “a horrid little man” and on further experience of his ability said that he “played very, very well”, but that “there was too little of him to make a great actor”. An engagement in 1808 to play leading characters in Beverley’s provincial troupe was brought to an abrupt close by his marriage (17 July) with Mary Chambers of Waterford, the leading actress. His wife bore him 2 sons.

Drury Lane and New York

For several years his prospects were very gloomy, but in 1814 the committee of Drury Lane theatre, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, resolved to give him a chance among the “experiments” they were making to win a return of popularity. When the expectation of his first appearance in London was close upon him he was so feverish that he exclaimed “If I succeed I shall go mad.” Unable to afford medical treatment for some time, his elder son died the day after he signed the 3-year Drury Lane contract.

His opening at Drury Lane on 26 January 1814 as Shylock roused the audience to almost uncontrollable enthusiasm. Successive appearances in Richard III, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear demonstrated his mastery of the range of tragic emotion. His triumph was so great that he himself said on one occasion, "I could not feel the stage under me." On 29 November 1820 Kean appeared for the first time in New York as Richard III. The success of his visit to America was unequivocal, although he fell into a vexatious dispute with the press. On 4 June 1821 he returned to England.

Kean was the first to restore the tragic ending to Shakespeare's King Lear, which had been replaced on stage since 1681 by Nahum Tate's happy ending adaptation The History of King Lear. Kean had previously acted Tate's Lear, but told his wife that the London audience "have no notion of what I can do till they see me over the dead body of Cordelia."^[1] Kean played the tragic Lear for a few performances. They were not well received, though one critic described his dying scene as "deeply affecting",^[2] and with regret, he reverted to Tate.^[3]

Private life

Kean’s lifestyle became a hindrance to his career. In Switzerland, he met Charlotte Cox, the wife of a London city alderman. Kean was sued by Cox for adultery on his return to England. Damages of £800 was awarded against him in the presence of a jury in just 10 minutes. The Times launched a violent attack on him. The adverse decision in the divorce case of Cox v. Kean on 17 January 1825 caused his wife to leave him, and aroused against him such bitter feeling, that he was booed and pelted with fruit when he re-appeared at Drury Lane, as nearly to compel him to retire permanently into private life.

Second American visit

A second visit to America in 1825 was largely a repetition of the persecution which he had suffered in England. Some cities showed him a spirit of charity; many audiences submitted him to insults and even violence. In Quebec he was much impressed with the kindness of some Huron Indians who attended his performances, and he was purportedly made an honorary chief of the tribe, receiving the name Alanienouidet.^[4]. Kean’s last appearance in New York was on 5 December 1826 in Richard III, the role in which he was first seen in America.

Decline and death

He returned to England and was ultimately received with favour, but by now he was so dependent on the use of stimulants that the gradual deterioration of his gifts was inevitable. Still, his great powers triumphed during the moments of his inspiration over the absolute wreck of his physical faculties. His appearance in Paris was a failure owing to a fit of drunkenness.

His last appearance on the stage was at Covent Garden, on 25 March 1833, when he played Othello to the Iago of his son, Charles Kean, who was also an accomplished actor. At the words “Villain, be sure,” in scene 3 of act iii, he suddenly broke down, and crying in a faltering voice “O God, I am dying. Speak to them, Charles,” fell insensible into his son’s arms. He died at Richmond, Surrey where he had spent his last years as manager of the local theatre, and was buried in the Parish Church where there is a floor plaque marking his grave and a wall plaque originally on the outside but moved inside and heavily restored during restoration work in 1904. His last words were alleged to be "dying is easy; comedy is hard."^{[citation needed]} In Dublin, Gustavus Vaughan Brooke took up the part of William Tell vacated by Kean.

Artistic legacy

It was in the impersonation of the great creations of Shakespeare’s genius that the varied beauty and grandeur of the acting of Kean were displayed in their highest form, although probably his most powerful character was Sir Giles Overreach in Philip Massinger’s A New Way to Pay Old Debts, the effect of his first performance of which was such that the pit rose en masse, and even the actors and actresses themselves were overcome by the terrific dramatic illusion. His main disadvantage as an actor was his small stature. Coleridge said, “Seeing him act was like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning.”^[5]

If the range of character in which Kean attained supreme excellence was narrow, no one except David Garrick was so successful in so many great roles. Unlike Garrick, Kean had no true talent for comedy, but in the expression of biting and saturnine wit, of grim and ghostly gaiety he was unsurpassed.

Eccentricity

His eccentricities at the height of his fame were numerous. Sometimes he would ride recklessly on his horse, Shylock, throughout the night. He was presented with a tame lion with which he might be found playing in his drawing-room The prize-fighters Mendoza and Richmond the Black were among his visitors. Grattan was his devoted friend.

Appraisals

In his earlier days, Talma said of him, “He is a magnificent uncut gem; polish and round him off and he will be a perfect tragedian.” Macready, who was much impressed by Kean’s Richard III and met the actor at supper, speaks of his “unassuming manner ... partaking in some degree of shyness” and of the “touching grace” of his singing. Kean’s delivery of the three words “I answer—No!” in the part of Sir Edward Mortimer in The Iron Chest, cast Macready into an abyss of despair at rivalling him in this role. So full of dramatic interest is the life of Edmund Kean that it formed the subject for the play "Kean" by Jean-Paul Sartre as well as a play by Alexandre Dumas, père, entitled Kean, ou Désordre et génie, in which the actor Frédérick Lemaître achieved one of his greatest triumphs.

Theatrical works

Several theatrical works have been based on Kean's life:

• Kean, a drama by Alexandre Dumas, père, 1836
• Kean, a comedy by Jean-Paul Sartre, 1953 (produced 1954 with Pierre Brasseur, revived London 2007 starring Antony Sher)^[6]
• Kean, a Broadway musical by Peter Stone, Robert Wright, and George Forrest, 1961
• Kean IV, a tragicomedy by Grigoriy Gorin, 1991

References

1. ^ Edward Dowden, "Introduction to King Lear" in Shakespeare Tragedies, Oxford University Press, 1912, p. 743.
2. ^ George Daniel, quoted in Grace Ioppolo, William Shakespeare's King Lear: A Sourcebook. London, Routledge, 2003, p. 79.
3. ^ Stanley Wells, "Introduction" from King Lear Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 69.
4. ^ Hillebrand, Harold Newcomb. Edmund Kean New York, Columbia University Press, 1933 p 275
5. ^ Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, Table Talk, 27 April 1823 in Coleridge, Samuel Taylor; Morley, Henry (1884). Table Talk of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Christobel, &c.. New York: Routledge. p. 38. http://books.google.com/books?id=OJIRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA38. 
6. ^ Thaxter, John (2007-05-31). "Kean Theatre Review". The Stage. http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/17019/kean. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 

• Francis Phippen, Authentic memoirs of Edmund Kean, containing a specimen of his talent at composition (London, 1814)
• B. W. Procter, The Life of E. K. (London, 1835)
• Frederick William Hawkins, The life of Edmund Kean (Tinsley Brothers, London, 1869)
• George Henry Lewes, On Actors and the Art of Acting (Smith Elder, London, 1875)
• Henry Barton Baker Our Old Actors, (R. Bentley & Son, London, 1881)
• Edwin Booth, "Edmund Kean," in Actors and Actresses of Great Britain and the United States from the days of David Garrick to the present time, edited by Brander Matthews and Laurence Hutton, volume iii (Cassell & Co., New York, 1886)
• Joseph Fitzgerald Molloy, The Life and Adventures of Edmund Kean, Tragedian, 1787-1833 (Downey & Co. Limited, London, 1897)
• Edward Stirling, Old Drury Lane: Fifty Years' Recollections of Author, Actor, and Manager (Chatto and Windus, London, 1887).
• Lynch, Jack (2007). Becoming Shakespeare: The Strange Afterlife That Turned a Provincial Playwright into the Bard. New York: Walker & Co.

External links

• Media related to Edmund Kean at Wikimedia Commons
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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