Kate Terry
Kate Terry (21 April 1844 – 6 January 1924) was an English actress. The elder sister of the actress Ellen Terry, she was born into a theatrical family, made her debut when still a child, became a leading lady in her own right, and left the stage in 1867 to marry. In retirement she commented that she was 20 years on the stage, yet left it when she was only 23.[1] Her grandson was the actor and theatre director John Gielgud.
Biography
Early years
Terry was born in England into a theatrical family. Her parents, Benjamin (1818–1896) and Sarah (née Ballard; 1817–1892),[2] were comic actors in a touring company based in Portsmouth.[3][4] Kate was the oldest surviving child of eleven, five of whom became actors: Ellen, Florence, Fred, Kate and Marion. Two other children, George and Charles, were connected with theatre management.[5] Terry's grandson, John Gielgud, became one of the twentieth century's most respected actors.[6]
Stage career
Terry began her career as a child actress in
Terry played Ariel in
In 1866 she appeared in
John Gielgud calculated that his grandmother played about 100 roles in her short career.
Later years
After her farewell performances, she left the stage to marry the wealthy haberdasher and silk merchant Arthur James Lewis (of the firm Lewis & Allenby).[16][17] The couple had four daughters, the eldest of whom was also named Kate (the mother of Gielgud). The youngest, Mabel Terry-Lewis, became an actress.[18] Terry made two later appearances on stage: first in 1898, in Stuart Ogilvie's The Master, with John Hare and her daughter Mabel, and in June 1906 she played Ursula in a scene from Much Ado About Nothing at the gala stage celebration of her sister Ellen's jubilee.[3]
Terry and her husband lived in considerable style in Moray Lodge in
Terry died in London, aged 79.[3]
See also
Notes
- ^ The Times, 3 May 1920, p. 11
- ^ Gielgud, p. 222
- ^ a b c d e The Times, Obituary notice, 7 January 1924, p. 14
- ^ Biography of Ellen Terry at the Stage Beauty website
- ^ Hartnoll, pp. 815–17.
- ^ Heilpern, John. "In Praise of the Holy Trinity: Olivier, Gielgud, Richardson" Archived 19 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Observer, 12 January 1998; Gussow, Mel. "Sir John Gielgud, 96, Dies; Beacon of Classical Stage" Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 23 May 2000; and Beckett, Francis. "John Gielgud: Matinee Idol to Movie Star" Archived 19 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The New Statesman, 26 May 2011
- ^ "First Appearances in London of Actors and Actresses", The Era Almanack, 1870, p. 26
- ^ a b The Manchester Guardian, Obituary notice, 8 January 1924, p. 12
- ^ Auerbach, Nina, "Alluring Vacancies in the Victorian Character", The Kenyon Review, New Series, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Summer, 1986), p. 42
- ^ The Times, 5 October 1866
- ^ Lee, Alfrida. The 1866–1867 Season Archived 2 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine, The Adelphi Theatre: 1806 to 1900, accessed 20 May 2009
- ^ The Times, 26 July 1867
- ^ Auerbach, p. 130
- ^ a b Gielgud, p. 19
- ^ "Miss Kate Terry's Farewell Benefit",The Manchester Guardian, 5 October 1867, p. 7
- ^ Auerbach, p. 70
- ^ Morley, p. 25
- ^ "Lewis, Mabel Terry", Who's Who (1907), Vol. 59, pp. 1055–56
References
- ISBN 0-8122-1613-X
- ISBN 0-435-18320-6
- ISBN 0-283-98573-9
- ISBN 1557835039
- Pemberton, Thomas Edgar. Ellen Terry and Her Sisters, London: C.A. Pearson (1902).