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KEAN, EDMUND (1787–1833)
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See also:KEAN, See also:EDMUND (1787–1833) , was See also:born in See also:London on the 17th of See also: He subsequently joined Saunders's See also:circus, where in the performance of an equestrian feat he See also:fell and See also:broke his legs—the See also:accident leaving traces of swelling in his insteps throughout his See also:life. About this time he picked up See also:music from See also: Kean on the 17th of January 1825 caused his wife to leave him, and aroused against him such See also:bitter feeling, shown by the almost riotous conduct of the audiences before which he appeared about this time, as nearly to compel him to retire permanently into private life. A second visit to America in 1825 was largely a repetition of the persecution which, in the name of morality, he had suffered in England. Some cities showed him a spirit of charity; many audiences submitted him to the grossest insults and endangered his life by the violence of their disapproval. In See also:Quebec he was much impressed with the kindness of some See also:Huron See also:Indians who attended his performances, and he was made See also:chief of the tribe, receiving the name Alanienouidet. Kean's last appearance in New York was on the 5th of See also:December 1826 in Richard III., the role in which he was first seen in America. He returned to England and was ultimately received with all the old favour, but the contest had made him so dependent on the use of stimulants that the See also:gradual deterioration of his gifts was inevitable. Still, even in their decay his great See also:powers triumphed during the moments of his See also:inspiration over the See also:absolute See also:wreck of his See also:physical faculties, and compelled admiration after his gait had degenerated into a weak hobble, and the See also:lightning brilliancy of his eyes had become dull and bloodshot, and the tones of his match-less See also:voice marred by rough and grating hoarseness. His appear' ance in See also:Paris was a failure owing to a See also:fit of See also:drunkenness. His last appearance on the stage was at Covent See also:Garden, on the 25th of March 1833 when he played Othello to the Iago of his son Charles. At the words " Villain, be sure," in See also:scene 3 of See also:act iii., he suddenly broke down, and crying in a faltering voice " O See also:God, I am dying. Speak to them, Charles," fell insensible into his son's arms. He died at See also:Richmond on the 15th of May 1833. It was in the impersonation of the great creations of Shakespeare's genius that the varied beauty and grandeur of the acting of Kean were displayed in their highest See also:form, although probably his most powerful See also:character was See also:Sir See also:Giles Overreach in See also:Massinger's A New Way to Pay Old Debts, the effect of his first impersonation of which was such that the See also:pit See also:rose en masse, and even the actors and actresses themselves were overcome by the terrific dramatic illusion. His only See also:personal disadvantage as an actor was his small stature. His countenance was strikingly interesting and unusually See also:mobile; he had a matchless command of facial expression; his See also:fine eyes scintillated with the slightest shades of emotion and thought; his voice, though weak and harsh in the upper See also:register, possessed in its See also:lower range tones of penetrating and resistless See also:power, and a thrilling sweetness like the witchery of the finest music; above all, in the grander moments of his See also:passion, his See also:intellect and soul seemed to rise beyond material barriers and to glorify physical defects with their own greatness. Kean specially excelled as the exponent of passion. In Othello, Iago, Shylock and Richard III., characters utterly different from each other, but in which the predominant See also:element is some form of passion, his See also:identification with the See also:personality, as he had conceived it, was as nearly as possible perfect, and each isolated phase and aspect of the See also:plot was elaborated with the minutest See also:attention to details, and yet with an absolute subordination of these to the distinct individuality he was endeavouring to portray. See also:Coleridge said, " Seeing him act was like See also:reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning." If the range of character in which Kean attained supreme excellence was narrow, no one except See also:Garrick has been so successful in so many great impersonations. Unlike Garrick, he had no true See also:talent for See also:comedy, but in the expression of biting and saturnine wit, of grim and ghostly gaiety, he was unsurpassed. His eccentricities at the height of his fame were numerous. Sometimes he would ride recklessly on his See also:horse Shylock throughout the See also:night. He was presented with a tame See also:lion with which he might be found playing in his See also:drawing-See also:room. The prizefighters See also:Mendoza and Richmond the See also:Black were among his visitors. See also:Grattan was his devoted friend. In his earlier days '1'See also:alma said of him, " He is a magnificent uncut See also:gem; See also:polish andround him off and he will be a perfect tragedian." See also:Macready, who was much impressed by Kean's Richard III. and met the actor at supper, speaks of his " unassuming manner . . . See also:par-taking in some degree of shyness " and of the " touching See also:grace " of his singing. Kean's delivery of the three words " I See also:answer—NO! " in the See also:part of Sir See also:Edward See also:Mortimer in The See also:Iron See also:Chest, See also:cast Macready into an See also:abyss of despair at rivalling him in this role. So full of dramatic See also:interest is the life of Edmund Kean that it formed the subject for a play by the See also:elder See also:Dumas, entitled Kean on desordre et genie, in which See also:Frederick-See also:Lemaitre achieved one of his greatest triumphs.
See See also:Francis Phippen, See also:Authentic See also:Memoirs of Edmund Kean (1814); B. W. See also:Procter (See also:Barry See also:Cornwall), The Life of Edmund Kean (1835) F. W. See also:Hawkins, The Life of Edmund Kean (1869); J. See also:Fitzgerald Molloy, The Life and Adventures of Edmund Kean (1888) ; Edward See also:Stirling, Old Drury Lane (1887).
His son, CHARLES See also: After preparatory See also:education at Worplesdon and at Greenford, near See also:Harrow, he was sent to See also:Eton See also:College, where he remained three years. In 1827 he was offered a cadetship in the See also:East See also:India See also:Company's service, which he was prepared to accept if his father would See also:settle an income of £400 on his mother. The elder Kean refused to do this, and his son determined to become an actor. He made his first appearance at Drury Lane on the 1st of See also:October 1827 as Norval in See also:Home's See also:Douglas, but his continued failure to achieve popularity-led him to leave London in the See also:spring of 1828 for the provinces. At See also:Glasgow, on the 1st of October in this year, father and son acted together in See also:Arnold See also:Payne's See also:Brutus, the elder Kean in the See also:title-part and his son as See also:Titus. After a visit to America in 183o, where he was received with much favour, he appeared in 1833 at Covent Garden as Sir Edmund Mortimer in See also:Colman's The Iron Chest, but his success was not.pronounced enough to encourage him to remain in London, especially as he had already won a high position in the provinces. In January 1838, however, he returned to Drury Lane, and played Hamlet with a success which gave him a See also:place among the principal tragedians of his time. He was married to the actress Ellen See also:Tree (18o5–188o) on the 29th of January 1842, and paid a second visit to America with her from 1845 to 1847. Returning to England, he entered on a successful engagement at the Haymarket, and in 185o, with See also:Robert See also:Keeley, became lessee of the Princess Theatre. The most noteworthy feature of his management was a See also:series of gorgeous Shakespearian revivals. Charles Kean was not a great tragic actor. He did all that could be done by the persevering cultivation of his powers, and in many ways manifested the See also:possession of high intelligence and refined taste, but his defects of See also:person and voice made it impossible for him to give a See also:representation at all adequate of the varying and subtle emotions of pure tragedy. But in melodramatic parts such as the See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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