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 The grave of Charles Kemble and his daughter Fanny Kemble at Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Picture by Androom (10 Aug 1997) |
Kemble, Charles |
| ACTOR, THEATRE MANAGER (WALES) |
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BORN 25 Nov 1775, Brecon, Brecknockshire - DIED 12 Nov 1854, London GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (055/PS (11981)) |
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Charles Kemble was the youngest son of the actor Roger Kemble and the brother of the great actors John Philip Kemble and Sarah Siddons. He became a successful actor himself who played a very wide range of roles. After working in a post office he decided to enter the stage and as far as is known he first appeared at Sheffield as Orlando in "As You Like It". He debuted in London as Malcolm in "MacBeth" at the Drury Lane Theatre on April 21, 1794. Kemble played many Shakespearean roles, but he was at his best in comedies. He married the dancer Marie-Thérèse de Camp (1774-1838) and their daughters Fanny and Adelaide both became famous as well. From 1822 onwards Kemble was the manager of the Covent Garden Theatre. He nearly went bankrupt, but Fanny's reluctant appearance on the stage in 1829 became a tremendous success and saved him from ruin. In 1832 he left for the US to tour the main cities with Fanny. In 1836 he said farewell to the public at the Haymarket, but in 1840 he returned for a few nights at Covent Garden and his final appearance was on 10 April 1840. In 1844 and 1845 he gave public readings from the work of Shakespeare at Willis's Rooms. His colleague Willlam Macready once described him as 'a first rate actor of second rate parts'. Kemble died in 1854 in London. Family • Daughter: Kemble, Fanny • Son: Kemble, John Mitchell Related persons • was teacher of Glyn, Isabella • is brother/sister of Siddons, Sarah • cooperated with Smithson, Harriet Events |
| 21/4/1794 | Debut of Charles Kemble at Drury Lane. He played the part of Malcolm in "MacBeth". |
| 5/1/1818 | Premiere of Milman's "Fazio" at Covent Garden, London. The tragedy was written by Henry Hart Milman and published in 1815. After several unauthorised adaptations this was the first authorised version of the play. Actors included Charles Kemble, Elizabeth O'Neill, Daniel Egerton, Charles Mathews, William Blanchard, Harriet Faucit and Charles Connor. They play was performed in Dublin on 6 April 1818. In later years Fanny Kemble appeared in it as well. [Kemble, Fanny][Mathews, Charles] |
| 17/5/1820 | James Sheridan Knowles' "Virginius" first performed in London. In April it was staged at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow and at this day at Covent Garden in London. William MacReady was Virginius and other actors were Maria Foote, Harriet Faucit, William Abbot, Charles Connor, John Faucit, Daniel Egerton, Thomas Comer, Charles Kemble and Faniel Terry. |
| 18/1/1830 | Fanny Kemble appears in Arthur Murphy's "The Grecian Daughter" at Covent Garden. She played Euphrasia in the tragedy by Arthur Murphy from 1772. Charles Kemble played Evander. Previously it had been one of the great roles of Fanny's aunt Sarah Siddons. [Kemble, Fanny][Siddons, Sarah] |
| 28/4/1830 | Fanny Kemble appears in "Isabella: or, The Fatal Marriage" at Covent Garden. It was her first appearance as Isabella in the play written by Thomas Southerne. Charles Kemble played Biron. [Kemble, Fanny] |
| 26/6/1830 | Fanny Kemble and Charles Kemble visit Walter Scott for breakfast . The breakfast took place in his town house in Edinburgh. Sir Adam and Lady Ferguson were present as well. Scott liked Fanny very much. Fanny complained to Scott about th apathy of the Scottish audiences. [Kemble, Fanny] |
| 20/10/1830 | Premiere of Thomas Wade's "The Jew of Arragon" at Covent Garden in London. Charles Kemble and his daughter Fanny Kemble were acting and Kemble was optimistic that the play would be a success. But the public hissed for the first time in Fanny's career. She realised it was not because of their performances but because the play was sympathetic to the Jews. The play was soon withdrawn. [Kemble, Fanny] |
| 15/3/1832 | Premiere of Fanny Kemble's play "Francis the First" at Covent Garden in London. The original cast of the tragedy included herself, her father Charles Kemble, Daniel Egerton, George Bennett, William Abbott, Robert Keeley, John Duruset, James Prescott Warde, Harriette Taylor and Ellen Kean. The play was only a brief success. [Kemble, Fanny] |
| 5/4/1832 | Premiere of Knowles'"The Hunchback" at Covent Garden. James Sheridan Knowles had written it after the failure of his previous comedy "The Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green" in 1828. The cast included himself, Fanny Kemble, Harriet Taylor, Charles Kemble, Benjamin Wrench, William Abbot, Drinkwater Meadows and William Payne. The play was a success. [Kemble, Fanny] |
| 22/6/1832 | Last performance of Fanny Kemble at Covent Garden as Julia in "The Hunchback". She was going to tour in the USA with her father, who also performed that evening. [Kemble, Fanny] |
| 23/12/1836 | Charles Kemble leaves the stage. His last appearance was as Benedick in Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". He left the stage but returned one more time on 10 Apr 1840. |
| 0/0/1837 | Adelaide Kemble and Pauline Garcia sing together. Adelaide and Charles Kemble had left Leipzig and travelled to Brussels to visit the Garcias. Adelaide and young Pauline sang together and their voices combined very well. [Viardot-Garcia, Pauline] |
| 0/0/1837 | Johann Hummel recognises Charles Kemble on the streets of Weimar. Charles Kemble and his daughter Adelaide were on their way to Karlsbad. During their stay in Weimar, Hummel recognised Charles and invited them to his house. There he played the piano and Adelaide sang. [Hummel, Johann Nepomuk] |
| 16/10/1837 | Charles and Adelaide Kemble leave Dresden. They headed for the castle of the Thun family. |
| 6/11/1837 | Charles and Adelaide Kemble arrive in Leipzig. They knew Felix Mendelssohn and Charles Kemble hoped that he would support Adelaide's singing career. Soon after their arrival they were spotted by the singer Clara Novello and her parents, who feared that Adelaide might be a rival to Clara. [Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix] |
| 21/12/1838 | Charles and Adelaide Kemble leave Venice for Trieste. Adelaide had performed succesfully in Venice. In Trieste they would meet Adelaide's brother John. [Kemble, John Mitchell] |
| Images |
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The grave of Charles Kemble and his daughter Fanny Kemble at Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Picture by Androom (10 Aug 1997) |
Sources • Blainey, Ann, Fanny and Adelaide, Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 2001 • Stephen, Leslie [Sir], Sidney Lee [Sir] [Editors], The Dictionary of National Biography, From the Earliest Times to 1900, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1960 • Vincent, Benjamin, Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, and Universal Information, Ward, Lock & Co, London, 1906 • Paths of Glory, The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, London, 1997 • Schöne, Günter, Bühnenstars, Florian Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven, 1998 • Charles Kemble - Wikipedia (EN) • THE NEW TRAGEDY. » 23 Oct 1830 » The Spectator Archive • Fazio (play) - Wikipedia (EN) • Francis the First (play) - Wikipedia (EN) • The Hunchback (play) - Wikipedia (EN) • Virginius (play) - Wikipedia (EN) • Dictionary of National Biography - Wikisource, the free online library • The Journal of Sir Walter Scott by Sir Walter Scott: June 1830 |
