# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Kemble, Henry

​KEMBLE, HENRY (1848–1907), actor, born in London on 1 June 1848, was son of Henry Kemble, captain of the 37th foot. Charles Kemble [q. v.] was his grandfather. He was educated by his aunt, Fanny Kemble [q. v. Suppl. I], at Bury St. Edmunds and King's College school, London. In 1865 he entered the privy council office, but devoted most of his time to amateur theatricals. Yielding to the hereditary bias, he made his professional debut on the stage at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, on 7 Oct. 1867, and for a year and a half remained a minor member of Harris's stock company there. Subsequently he acted old men and character parts at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Scarborough, and Newcastle-on-Tyne. On 29 Aug. 1874 he made his first appearance in London at Drury Lane, under Chatterton's management, as Tony Foster in a revival of 'Amy Robsart.' On 26 Sept. he was the original Philip of France in Halliday's 'Richard Coeur de Lion,' and later was favourably received as Dr. Caius in 'The Merry Wives of Windsor.' In 1875 he joined John Hare's company at the Court Theatre, and was seen to advantage as Dr. Penguin in 'A Scrap of Paper.' On 30 Sept. 1876 he appeared at the Prince of Wales's as Crossley Beck in 'Peril,' then beginning his long association and friendship with the Bancrofts. Among his later characters here were Dolly Spanker in 'London Assurance,' Sir Oliver Surface in 'The School for Scandal,' and Algie Fairfax in 'Diplomacy.' On 27 Sept. 1879 he was the original Mr. Trelawney Smith in 'Duty,' an adaptation by Albery from Sardou.
Following the Bancrofts to the Haymarket, Kemble appeared there on the opening night of their management (31 January 1880) as Mr. Stout in 'Money,' and subsequently played Dr. Sutcliffe in ​a revival of 'School.' During the recess he toured the provinces with Miss Ellen Terry, returning to the Haymarket on 20 Sept. to play Captain Mouser in a revival of Buckstone's 'Leap Year.' A few weeks later he played Sir Lucius O'Trigger to the Bob Acres of John S. Clarke. On 20 Oct. 1881 he was the original Cranmer in W. S. Raleigh's 'Queen and Cardinal,' but the play proved a failure, and Kemble went for a time with Mrs. Scott-Siddons (the Anne Boleyn of the cast) into the provinces. On 15 Feb. 1882 he reappeared at the Court in two new characterisations — as the Rev. Mr. Jones in D. G. Boucicault's adaptation 'My Little Girl' and Mr. Justice Bunby in Burnand's farcical comedy 'The Manager.' Other original characters followed. On 20 July 1885 he played his old part of Mr. Snarl in 'Masks and Faces' at the Bancroft farewell.
A variety of engagements of small importance occupied him for the next fifteen years, during which he was the original Mr. Parr on 6 Jan. 1888 in Robert Buchanan's 'Partners' at the Haymarket, where he remained for some time, and he made an acceptable Polonius at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, on 9 Sept. 1891, the occasion of (Sir) Herbert Beerbohm Tree's first performance of 'Hamlet.' Subsequently joining Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree at Her Majesty's, he was, on 1 Feb. 1902, the original Ctesippus in Stephen Phillips's 'Ulysses.' On 4 Nov. following he was seen to advantage at the Duke of York's as the Earl of Loam in Mr. J. M. Barrie's 'The Admirable Crichton.' His last appearance on the stage was made at the Criterion in April 1907 as Archibald Coke in a revival of Mr. Henry Arthur Jones's 'The Liars.' On 17 Nov. following he died, unmarried, at Jersey.
Kemble was an excellent comedian, and revelled in strongly marked character parts. His stout figure and somewhat short stature enhanced the comicality of his mien. Much beloved by his associates, he was affectionately known at the Garrick Club as 'The Beetle,' duo to his early habit of wearing a long brown cloak with a large collar, which he pulled over his head in cold weather.
[Pascoe's Dramatic List; Bancroft Memoirs; Ellen Terry's Story of My Life; Dramatic Notes for 1881–6; William Archer's Theatrical World of 1896; Charles Brookfield's Random Reminiscences, 1902; Green Room Book, 1908.]
W. J. L.