Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-12-15
France. maria KELLY.

The death of Miss Frances Maria Kelly,
telesraphed on Monday morning from Lon
dou, has removed from the dramatic stage
one of the very Oldest of its living orna-
--~-ia Ia actual priority Of service on the
stage she prooaDly .--nassed every English
actor or actress alive. Miss KsIIy vas bor,
1t Brighton, England, on Dece mber I1tI7qO
so that had she lived until Friday of thu
week she would have completed her ninety
second year. Her father was an officer in
the English army, and brother of Michael
Kelly, long the first singer OF Drury Lane,
and an intimate friend of Mozart. Under
her uncle young Fanny early studied music;
especially was she taught TO sing, SO that
years before she had reached mature age
her name had become we'll known on the
stage. Indeed, her first appearance is de-
clared 10 have been made before the last
century closed, in December, 1899, at Drury
Lane, in her uncle's operate spectacle of
Bl''e6eaTd; ops the same, occasion, it
is recorded, That Edmund Kean three
years her senior, frat faced a Lon
don audience from the foo.lights. OF
Fanny's appearance and his on that occasion,
1t is said by writer In the London World.
that, in order to reaiiZs the effevt- af ,aa-,
sceptive in the grand scene, an ingeniously
arranged winding procession advanced from
the very back of the stage, represented in
the distance by doll figures, intermediary
U
footlights by the adult actors, and that il was
in the children's psrt OF this procession that
"Biuebeard," mounted upon a miniature ele-
phaut, was enacted by Kesn, and that Fanny
Kelly, with a drawn cimeter in her grasp.
lripped before him among the ranks OF his
retainers. Mis- Kelley was more distinc-
lively actress than a singer. For nearly
forty years she enjoyed the highest repute in
London as an actress on the boards of Drury
II r r Al L
market, but early IN her career she earned
local renown as a singer at the English
Operahouse, under Arnold's management.
Her first appearance as an actress was made
in Glasgow when she was fifteen years of age,
and, during her long career. she showed, be-
sides great talent, marked versatility. Esps-
cially was she excellent in comedy parts.
such as the name of Mrs. Jordan is asso-
cisted with; but she surpassed these
successes in domestic melodrama. Per-
haps the pieces In which she be-
came best known and for which
she was most warmly praised, are The Ser
ge1nfs Wife, The Maid and the Mdqpie, and
The Innkeeper's Daughter. Besides Kean aud
Mrs. Jordan, she had played with Mrs. Sid
dons and John Kemble. Many years ago
she built in Birmingham theater, that was
called after her own name until 1861, when
the name was changed to the New Royalty.
While performing at Drury Lane, early In
her experience, Miss Kelly was fred at from
the pit. A scene of extraordinary excite
ment ensued, during which the offender was
violently seized by spectators, bu. he WAS
finally carried safely away to prison. On his
trial he was acquitted on the ground of in
sanity. Some years afterward another attempt
was made upon Miss Kelly's life, this time
in Dublin, but the success OF it was fortu-
nately no better than the success of the first.
She retired from the stage many years ago.
Very recently-within a month-she re-
ceived from the crown a grant of G150, which
was accepted as graceful tribute on the
part of Mr.. Gladstone to the dramatic art,
and one which would be appreciated by
every member of the profession. Miss Kelly
will be remembered by many persons as
friend of Charles Lamb. She was the "Bar.
bara S." of the Essays of Ella, and two of his
Honnets were addressed TO her