Life
1811-1868 [Charles John Kean; uncommon var. Keane]; b. 18 Jan., Waterford;
second son of Edmund Kean; ed Eton; went on stage after quarrel with f.,
whose marriage broke up in 1827; first worked at Drury Lane; reconciled
with f., 1828; toured America, 1830-33; played Iago opposite his father’s
Othello; mgr. Princess Th., Lon., 1850, and sole mgr. 1851; retired with
heavy loss after spectacular revivals, 1858; received public banquet,
1859; silver vase, 1862; m. Irish-born actress Ellen Tree, Dublin Jan.
1842; world tour, 1863; last appearance Liverpool, May 1867; d. 22 Jan.,
Queensborough Tce., Chelsea, London; an oil portrait of Kean by an unknown
hand, hangs in the Garrick Club. ODNB DIB
[ top ]
Notes
A Capful of Pennies (1967) is a play-biography of Kean by John
Coulter.
[ top ]