Julia Marlowe

Julia Marlowe
Born	Sarah Frances Frost August 17, 1866(1866-08-17) Cumberland, England
Died	November 12, 1950 (aged 84) New York City, New York
Occupation	Stage actress
Spouse(s)	Robert Taber 1894-1900, Edward Hugh Sothern

Marlowe in Pygmalion and Galatea

Julia Marlowe (August 17, 1866 – November 12, 1950) was an English-born American actress known for her interpretations of William Shakespeare.

Life and career

Marlowe was born as Sarah Frances Frost near Keswick, Cumberland, England, to John Frost and Sarah (Strong) Hodgson. At the age of four her family emigrated to the United States. Her father who was an avid fan of local sports "fled to America in 1870 under the erroneous impression that he had destroyed a neighbor's eye by flicking a whip at him during a race."^[1] He changed his name to Brough and after first settling in Kansas he moved his family east to Portsmouth, Ohio and then Cincinnati.

Early career

Marlowe obtained the nickname of "Fanny" and in her early teens began her career in the chorus of a juvenile opera company. While touring with the company for nearly a year performing Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, under the direction of Colonel Robert E. J. Miles (manager of the Cincinnati Opera House) she was given the part of Sir Joseph Porter. She later played in W. S. Gilbert's Pygmalion and Galatea.

Her training and initial success was due primarily to Miles's sister-in-law Ada Dow. Still in Cincinnati, Fanny played her first Shakespearean roles as Balthazar in Romeo and Juliet and as Maria in Twelfth Night she was billed as Fanny Brough. Soon after Ada Dow took Fanny to New York where for several years she received voice training by Parsons Price. Finished with the voice training she changed her name to Julia Marlowe. As an unknown, twenty-year old Marlowe was, at first, unable to get a Shakesperean role, but she was determined. Colonel Miles, the new manager of the New York Bijou Opera House, gave her the opportunity to play for two weeks on tour in New England. This gave Marlowe the repertoire she needed. On 20 October 1887, her mother hired the Bijou for a matinee of Ingomar, in which Marlowe received acclaim which served as a stepping stone to Broadway.

She made her Broadway debut in 1895 and went on to appear in more than seventy Broadway productions. Her first husband was Broadway actor Robert Taber (1865-1904). Their marriage lasted from 1894-1900 and produced no children. In 1904, Marlowe starred as Mary Tudor in When Knighthood Was in Flower. This was an enormous success, and made Marlowe financially independent. Other hits for Marlowe followed including Charlotte Oliver in The Cavalier, and Ingomar, both in 1903. Of her performance in the latter, The New York Sun wrote, "There is not a woman player in America or in England that is – attractively considered – fit to unlace her shoe".^[2]

Sothern and later years

Sothern and Marlowe as Romeo and Juliet

In 1904, she began an extremely successful partnership with actor E. H. Sothern, beginning with their appearances in the title roles in Romeo and Juliet, Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, and the leads in Hamlet. They toured all over the U.S. in these plays, adding The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night to their repertoire in 1905. Unhappy with their compensation from their manager, Charles Frohman, they continued under the management of the Shubert Brothers, from then on receiving a percentage of the profits. In 1906, together with Sothern, she played the title character in Percy MacKaye's Jeanne d'Arc, Salome in Sudermann's John the Baptist and in The Sunken Bell, receiving favorable reviews.^[2] By this time, Marlowe and Sothern were known as the premier Shakespearean actors in their day.

After another season in New York and then on tour, Sothern, Marlowe and their company crossed the Atlantic to play in London. They were unable to attract audiences in England, however, and returned to America after a season. Back in the U.S., they presented Shakespeare at affordable prices at the Academy of Music in New York, allowing audiences who had not previously been able to afford their productions to see them. Marlowe and Sothern dissolved their company and formed separate companies for a time. She played in J. B. Fagan's Gloria, in Romeo and Juliet and in As You Like It. in 1908, she played Yvette in Mary Johnston's verse play The Goddess of Reason.^[2]

At the end of 1909, Sothern and Marlowe reunited in Antony and Cleopatra. In 1910 they toured in Macbeth, receiving enthusiastic notices and bringing the production to New York where it was a hit. They then continued to tour their Shakespearean repertoire, also playing special performances of the plays for children at schools. Marlowe and Sothern married in 1911. Marlowe and Sothern made eleven phonograph recordings for the Victor company in 1920 and 1921. These recordings are presumably the only recorded evidence of Marlowe's voice today. After more touring with Sothern in Shakespeare, the two brought their production of The Merchant of Venice to New York in 1921. Soon afterwards, Marlowe's health was failing, and she retired in 1924. After Sothern's death in 1933, Marlowe became somewhat of a recluse. White haired and still beautiful she'd occasionally visit close friends like ailing playwright Edward Sheldon. In 1923, she received an honorary doctorate from George Washington University, and another in 1943 from Columbia University.

Julia Marlowe died in 1950 in New York City at the age of 84. She had no children.

References

Bibliography

• Barry, John D. Julia Marlowe. Boston: R. G. Badger, 1899.
• Russell, Charles Edward. Julia Marlowe, Her Life and Art. New York: D. Appleton and company, 1926.
• Marlowe, Julia, and E. H. Sothern. Julia Marlowe's Story. New York: Rinehart, 1954.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Julia Marlowe

• Julia Marlowe at the Internet Broadway Database
• worldcat.org