Keene, Laura (1826-1873)

Keene, Laura

ACTOR, THEATRE MANAGER (ENGLAND)

BORN 20 Jul 1826, London: Westminster - DIED 4 Nov 1873, Montclair, New Jersey
BIRTH NAME Moss, Mary Frances
CAUSE OF DEATH tuberculosis
GRAVE LOCATION New York City, New York: Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn (Section 182, Lot 21444)

Laura Keene was the daughter of Jane Moss and Tomas King. She was probably born in Westminster, London. When she was eighteen she married Henry Taylor, the godson of the Duke of Wellington. They had two children, Emma Elija and Clara Stella, but after seven years they separated.

She immediately decided to go to the stage to earn a living. Her aunt Elizabeth Yates was an actress and encouraged her. She took lessons with Emma Brougham. Her appearance under the name of Laura Keene at Emma Brougham's theatre in Richmond in 1851 attracted the attention of Charles Matthews, who gave her a part in "The Chain of Events" next to Madame Vestris at the Lyceum in London.

She was good in melodrama and comedy and also a good businesswoman. In 1852 she went to the USA and on October 20th she appeared in New York at Wallack's Theatre. Her daughters now called her auntie because being a separated (but not divorced) woman was worse in America than in England at that time.

She toured in the USA and together with a local man called John Lutz she took over the Charles Street Theatre in Baltimore and became the first woman to manage a theatre in the USA.

During the time that John Lutz had to stay with his terminally ill wife she visited the USA with her daughters and acted there with Edwin Booth. She met her husband in Sydney who had now made a fortune and wanted her back. Instead she asked for a divorce, but he refused.

Back in the USA she took over the management of the Varieties Theatre in New York and after a while she started a new theatre which had her own name and was known as The Olympic in later years. At that theatre she produced the extremely successful "Our America Cousin" in 1858. Edward Sothern would play Lord Dundreary for the rest of his life and eventually bought the play from Laura, who owned the copyright for the USA and Canada.

In 1860 "The Seven Sisters" was performed for 169 nights. Around that time she was finally able to live more openly with Lutz, although they probably never married since she was still legally bound herself. Her company was now well known in the USA and she was on the stage during a performance of "Our American Cousin" on 14 Apr 1865 at Ford's Theatre in Washington with president Lincoln in attendance, when the president was shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth. She put his head in her lap when she gave him some water. Lincoln died the next day. His blood was on her dress and had stained her cuff. The cuff is now at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

In 1868 she visited her native England. On 18 April 1869 John Lutz died and he was buried with his first wife in Okak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown. Laura did some more acting and managing before she largely withdrew from the stage to conduct the art journal "Fine Arts". However, she was on the stage in 1873 when she was hit by a hemorrhage. She had time to take care of some affairs, but she died soon afterwards.

She was buried at the cemetery of The Holy Angels in Montclair, New Jersey on 11 Nov 1873 as Frances Lutz. When her daughter Clara died in 1876, Laura's remains were transferred to the grave of her mother at Greenwood Cemetery in New York on April 20, 1876. This time the name that was put on the gravestone was Laura Keene.

Related persons
• cooperated with Boucicault, Dion
• cooperated with Sothern, Edward Askew
• knew Vestris, Lucia Elisabeth

Events

20/9/1852	Laura Keene makes her first American appearance at Wallack's Theatre in New York. She played the part of Albino Mandeville in "The Will". She was immediately successful.
15/1/1858	Premiere of Tom Taylor's "Our American Cousin" at Laura Keene's Theatre in New York City. The title part was played by Joseph Jefferson, who played Asa Trenchard. Edward Askew Sothern played Lord Dundreary and Laura Keene was in the cast as well and played Florence Trenchard. Charles Couldock played Abel Murcott. The play ran for over 150 performances and Sothern expanded his role gradually. [Sothern, Edward Askew]
29/3/1860	Boucicault's "The Colleen Bawn" is produced at Laura Keene's theatre in New York. Performers included Charles Wheatley, Dion Boucicault, Agnes Robertson and Laura Keene. The play ran until 18 May. [Boucicault, Dion]

Images
Laura Keene. [Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division] (c1855-1865)	The grave of Laura Keene at Greenwood Cemetery, New York City. Picture by Androom (15 Apr 2010)