The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-06-05

Poor Tom Keene, The news of his
death contained in Thursday morn
ing's dispatches, caused a thrill of sad
ness wherever it was read throughout
America, for there were few actors now
before the public more popular with the
rank and file of theatre-goers in this
country than he. The hold he had on
! the public is we'll illustrated by the
manner in which he is generally spoken
of-not Thomas w. Keene, or Mr..
Keene, but genial Tom Keene, every
where.
Il is almost two years and a half
since Mr.. Keene was last seen in this
city. He appeared for two nights; on
Dec. 50 and. 81; 1895, rendering Louis
XII on the first occasion and Rich
ard III on the last. These were his
strongest and his favorite roles; indeed,
of late years, hardly anything else he
did was acceptable to the public;
''RichelieU" and Hamlet" had a place
in his repertory but he was gradually
dropping them and concentrating al
his energy. on the two roles first named.
Probably no one on the stage at this
time could approach him in either de-
leniation. His portrayal of the cruel,
superstitious, cOwardly Louis II, and
of the death scene especially, was. an
instance Of the most virile, intense and
magnetic work possible to conceive of.
Since the death Of Sheridan, it has gen
orally been conceded that there was
but one actor on the American stage
capable OF presenting Louis XI," and
that was Keene His Richard III"
was scarcely less strong, the combat
scene with Richmond being almost ter
rible in the energy Of passion and de-
spair with which he made the diving
fight.
When Booth and Barrett passed
away, it was generally conceded that
only three American actors capable OF
presenting Shakespeare remained
Keeme, Warde and James. Each Of the
three has struggled Valiantly TO trans
fer TO his shoulders the mantle of the
dead tragedians, but it must be said
that each has seemed to lose ground
steadily with the lapse Of years, rather
than to advance, ana Warde ana James
especially have of late shown signs OF
giving uD the struggle altogether, and
of being content with what public ia
Vor could be won by deVOting them
selves to the romantic rather than to
the classic.
Keene chung TO his early ideals to the
moment of his death; anything classed
outside OF the legitimate had no place
in his thoughts: Shakespeare was his
=
rec. gave him q greater wrench than
the consciousness, which must nave
stolen upon him years ago, that he
could not hope to retain Hamlet in
his repertory with profit to himself or
satisfaction to the public Keene was
q good actor, a refined actor, put not
q great actor; in his soul the divine
shark was never quite struck, though
his tremendous energy caused white
glow that radiated with almost the
same power: it was the old story over
a gain-the distinction between positive
genius and merely brilliant talents. Ed
win Booth had the one, Keene the
other.
Keene had a classic face, greatly re-
sen)lirz ,taet Of William j. Bryan
The two men were frequently mistaken
for each other The name Keene was
only q nom de theatre his real name
being Elagleson. lie was % years Of
age, and died at his home in Staten ISL
and from The results of an operation
for appendicitis.
Thursdays Examiner has the follow
ing interesting sketch of the dead
actor:
Tom Keene is dead. It was sad news
for thousands in San Francisco, who
remember the happy days of that
splendid stock company Of the old can
fornia theatre in the days when Raj
ston was spending money with ali the
magnificence of a prince. In those days
of the early seventies there was no
such theatrical company in America.
Even Lester Wallack's people, OF whom
New York was so proud in those days,
did not. in the opinion of play-goers,
outrank an aggregation winch lnciud-
ed such men and women as John NC
Cu1Iough. Lawrence Barrett, Tom
Keene. Henry Edwards, Barton Hill,
J. c. Williamson, William Raymond,
Robert Pateman, Lewis Morrison, Ella
Wilton, Maggie Moore, Mrs. judah and
Elizabeth Saunders. Almost all are
dead. Lewis Morrison alone retains
his perpetual youth and is still play
ing with undiminished vigor, having
returned once more to the scene of his
old triunphs. Almost every one of
that famous band of players later be-
came. successful stars, known in every
town and city Of the United States.
Tom Keene came out from New york
u, the early 7O's to take the place Of
iaa6 ding man in the company. His first
oreaf success here was in the part OF
To ITlxef1aw in 1.-The Ticket of Leave
RTan" Indeed. he was always better in
!, .elodrar,a thar in society plays, but
the later successes of his life were
made in the legitimate, and his faVorlte
mart was Richard III
Il remember" said Lewis Morrison
last night, "a remarkable coincidence
along in the 70's, when Tom Keene,
Jrhn Mccullough and Lawrence Bar
rett were all three starred at different
the tres in Chicago on the same night,