Helena Faucit
Helena Saville Faucit, Lady Martin[nb 1] (11 October 1817 – 31 October 1898) was an English actress.
Early life
Born in London, she was the daughter of actors
Early career
Faucit's first professional appearance was made on 5 January 1836 at Covent Garden as Julia in James Sheridan Knowles's The Hunchback.[4] Her debut, a spectacular success, placed her at once among the leading actresses in London, helping to fill the void left by the retirement of Fanny Kemble in 1834. Her success in The Hunchback was followed by turns as Belvidera in Thomas Otway's Venice Preserv'd, and as Margaret in Joanna Baillie's The Separation. Though her interpretation of Belvidera was received coldly by critics, she remained a favourite of playgoers; already in that first season, she was signed to a three-year contract at Covent Garden.
Career with Macready
Faucit followed Macready to the
After a visit to Paris and a short season at the
Her Lady Macbeth of the 1843 season was, however, a failure; Macready found her conception deficient in "heart", and she was physically unable to achieve the commanding presence of Sarah Siddons, as Macready wished. She was, moreover passed over for Rosalind in favour of Louisa Cranstoun Nisbett; this role would later become one of her best-known Shakespearean roles. Nevertheless, Macready considered her "beyond all compare" the best English actress of the period.
After Macready
When Macready left for America in 1843, Faucit emerged as an even greater celebrity. In the mid-1840s she toured in Scotland and Ireland. Her most celebrated roles included Pauline in Lady of Lyons at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh,
Faucit occasionally returned to London, but her main activity for the remainder of her career was touring, especially in
Martin, the official biographer of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, had begun courting her as early as 1843; she finally accepted his proposal in 1851. [citation needed]
Career after marriage
In 1851 she married
Lady Martin died at her home at
Notes
References
- ^ Hale, Sarah J (1874). Woman's Record: Or, Sketches of All Distinguished Women, from the Creation to A.D. 1868. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 843. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ "The Drama". The Reader: A Review of Literature, Science and Art. IV (83). London: 146. 30 July 1864. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ Carol J. Carlisle, 'Saville , John Faucit (1783?–1853)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 2 Nov 2015
- ^ a b c d e public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Faucit, Helena Saville". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 205. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Brooke, Gustavus Vaughan (1818–1866) at Dictionary of Australian Biography
- ^ Martin, Theodore. King René's daughter: a Danish lyrical drama, W. Crosby and H.P. Nichols, 1850
- ^ Correspondence of Henry Irving, 6 June 1876, Henry Irving Foundation Centenary Project website. Retrieved 12 January 2012
Further reading
- Actors and Actresses of Great Britain and the United States, edited by Matthews and Hutton (New York, 1886).
- Sir Theodore Martin, Helena Faucit (London, 1900).