# The Strand Magazine/Volume 2/Issue 11/Portraits of Celebrities

Thomas Hardy. Corney Grain. Mrs. Keeley. Henry Neville. Miss Charlotte M. Yonge. Tommaso Salvini.
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Portraits of Celebrities at different times of their Lives.
THOMAS HARDY.
Born 1840.
| Age 21. From a Photo. by Bowen & Carpenter. | Age 32. From a Photo. by Stereoscopic Co. |
| Age 40. From a Photo. by Fred. Hollyer. | Age 50. From a Photo. by Barraud. |
HOMAS HARDY, who was born at a Dorsetshire village, was educated as an architect in his native place, at the same time giving much attention to literary studies. At twenty-one he came to London, where he continued to study design under Sir Arthur Blomfield, A.R.A., and modern languages at King's College. At twenty-two he gained several prizes and medals for designs, and also wrote much poetry which he never published. At thirty-one he wrote his first novel, "Desperate Remedies," and at thirty-four "Far from the Madding Crowd," his masterpiece, in which the humours and pathos of agricultural life are displayed in a manner which has had no equal.
CORNEY GRAIN.
| Age 17. From a Photograph. | Age 22. From a Photograph. |
| Age 27. From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry. | Age Present Day. From a Painting by Leslie Ward. |
ERE I asked to give a short, true, and succinct account of my life," says Mr. Corney Grain in his entertaining "Reminiscences," "I should do it in the following manner:—
| Surname | Grain. |
| Christian Name | Richard Corney. |
| Condition | Bachelor. |
| Born | October 26, 1844. |
| Education | Average Middle Class. |
| Profession | Barrister, April 30, 1866. Entertainer, May 16, 1870." |
Mr. Corney Grain was reading for the bar, and doing a little amateur acting and entertaining. At the age of the third, he had recently joined the German Reed's entertainment, with which his name has ever since been so pleasantly associated.
MRS. KEELEY.
| Age 45. From a Photograph. | Age 84. From a Photo. by Messrs. Elliott & Fry. |
Age 16. From a Painting.
RS. KEELEY was born in Ipswich in 1806, and although she is now in her 85th year, has a fund of animal spirits and vivacity which the young might envy. Time was when she was the idol of the theatrical public, as she is now the idol of her numerous circle of private friends. As far back as 1825 she was playing Rosina at the Lyceum. At the Adelphi, in 1838, she created a sensation by her performance of Smike; but the success she achieved in that character was eclipsed by her subsequent triumph as Jack Sheppard. All London went to see it, and she was the talk of the town. Her brilliant subsequent career, too long for this brief memoir, included Betty Martin, which stands perhaps as the most remarkable example. The old lady enjoys the best of health, and her face is as merry and her eyes as bright as in the days of her youth.
HENRY NEVILLE.
Age 16.Age 3.Age 35. From a Photograph.From a Photo. by Dunmore.From a Photo. by Fradelle & Young.
Present Day. From a Photo. by Conley, Boston.
R. HENRY NEVILLE, the son of a successful actor, appeared on the stage at the early age of four, in the part of an infant laid alone to sleep on a mossy bank, but greatly amazed and delighted the spectators by getting up and dancing a hornpipe on his own account. In course of time, though his father desired him to join the army, he threw in his lot with a strolling company, and for some time learnt his art in the hard but excellent school of the provincial theatres. At length, at twenty-three, he appeared at the Lyceum as Percy Ardent in "The Irish Heiress"—a part in which the spirit and vigour of his acting instantly attracted notice. He then removed to the Olympic, where his appearance as Bob Brierley in "The Ticket-of-Leave Man" went far to restore the fortunes of a hitherto unlucky house. At thirty-six, he became manager of this theatre—the scene of his chief London successes where his impersonations in "Clancarty," "The Two Orphans," and "Buckingham," showed him an actor of great pathos as well as vigorous action. In comedy, and especially as a stage lover, Mr. Neville shines above all rivals, and the hearty and genuine character of his acting makes him an ideal heroic soldier. For some years his school of dramatic art has turned out a succession of promising young actors.
MISS CHARLOTTE M. YONGE.
| Age 21. From a Drawing by W. B. Richmond. | Age 35. From a Photograph. |
| Age 40. From a Photograph. | Present Day. From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry. |
T the age of twenty-one, Miss Yonge had already written "Abbeychurch," the first of the long series of novels which have made her name familiar to innumerable readers. Miss Yonge's books have done good, not only by their healthy moral teaching, but by the generous use which she has made of the proceeds of their sale. The profits of "The Heir of Redclyffe," which was written at the age of thirty, she devoted chiefly to the fitting-out of the missionary schooner, The Southern Cross, for the use of Bishop Selwyn; and the sum of £2,000, which resulted from the sale of 'The Daisy Chain," to the erection of a missionary college at Auckland. Miss Yonge is at present editor of The Monthly Packet.
TOMMASO SALVINI.
| Age 27. From a Photograph. | Age 45. From a Photo. by Lock & Whitfield, Brighton. |
| Age 50. From a Photo. by Alinari, Florence. | Age 60. From a Photo. by Luckhardt, Vienna. |
OMMASO SALVINI, who belonged to family of actors, had gained renown as a child-actor before he was fourteen; and soon after, in Madame Ristori's company, he became recognised as the greatest of living tragedians. At nineteen he fought in the War of Independence, and was taken prisoner at the same time as his friend Garibaldi. Just before the age of our first portrait he appeared as Othello, with an effect which no one who has seen that wonderful impersonation will ever forget. Our second portrait, as Othello, is the only portrait of Salvini ever taken in character.