A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Kean, Ellen

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4120661A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography — Kean, Ellen

KEAN, ELLEN.

Obtained her celebrity as an actress under her maiden name. Miss Tree. She was born in 1805, in London, and first appeared at Covent Garden Theatre, 1823, when about eighteen years of age. She did not take the town by storm, as some actresses have burst into fame; but her graceful and lady-like manner won the good-will of her audience, and she rose in her profession by real merit, both of character and mind.

In 1837 she visited America, and was very successful in her theatrical engagements. After her return to England, she married Charles Kean, an actor well known for his constant efforts to imitate the manner of his father, the distinguished Edmund Kean. Shortly after their marriage, Charles Kean and his wife went to America, and made a professional tour through the principal cities: the wife was greeted as an old favourite; but she was not the Ellen Tree whom the people had loved. Mrs. Kean now resides with her husband, haying, we believe, retired from the stage.