The evening times., 1898-06-02
THOMAS Y. kE[IE IS Dead
The Great 1fseedisn Passed
Away Yesterday Afternoon.
A VIGOROUS, U.EFUL CAREER
Appendieisis Cleinea ~ yictin a
Man who MD M.sh to Popularise
shakespearedh BfAna-An Iaci-
dent which Evisces the Strength
of His Mind.

OF HIS Mind.
Thomas w. Ksepe. the tragedian. died
at the Smith Infirmary, Tompkinsville.
Staten Island. ~. Y, at p. m. yester-
day after a eks illness. His wife and
sister, Miss Margaret Eagleson. were
at his bedside when he passed away.
His real name was Eagieson. Mr..
Keene's home-was>on Richmond Turn
pike, castletoF. Corners. Richmond Bor-
ough.
With his codapany he was playing at
Hamilton. Ont, Friday. May 20. when
he was taken ILL He would not acknowl-
edge that he was sick. however. and
against the protests of his company
he went through his part on that day
and the following night. On Sunday.
May e. he disbanded his company. and
after canceling his engagements started
for home, where he arrived Wednesday,
May 25 broken down by the strain of
travelling. and very i'll.
His physician, DR.. ]. Walter Wood.
was summoned, and found the actor was
suffering from appendicitis. DR.. Wood
ordered his patients removal to the
Smith lnfirmary. where last Saturday
afternoon he was operated upon. The
operation seemed to have been in every
way successful. although Mr.. Keene
was very weak the next day. Monday
and Tuesday, but yesterday morning
he seemed much brighter and a slight
Improvement in his condition was re-
ported. At S O'clock last evening his
heart failed. and within two minutes
he -as dead.
The actor leaves besides his widow. two
children. daughter. the wife of Edward
Arden. the actor. and a son Claude. twen-
ty years old. Mrs Arden is in Paris. Mr..
Keene was fifty-eight years old.
Thomas w. Keene probably did more to
popularize Shakespeare throughout this
country than any other actor of this gen.
in every city and town in the United
States. Only recently he celebrated his
three-thousandth performance of the
crooked-backed tyrant.
Mr.. Keene belonged to the old school
of tragedy. a school noted for lis vigor-
Gus force. Born in New York city in 1910.
he made is professional debut in Julius
Caesar" Some previous stage experience
had been gained as a super at the old
Bowery and at. Niblos. His first perma-
nent engagement was with John B-otlgi-
am at his New York Lyceum. In John E.
Owens memorable production of '.Solon
Shingle" he played Robert Howard. At
Woods Theater. where he next appeared
he played Juvenile roles in supper. OF
Adah Isaacs Menken. Lucille Western F.
S. Chanfrau, Mary Provost and others.
Engagements in Cincinnati and a brief
starring tour followed. and then he re-
turned TO Woods Museum. where for
four years he acted everything. from the
clown in pantomine to Macbeth. Next
came an English tour in Across the
Continent and Jack Cade," and then he
returned to this country. In 1875 he went
to the California Theater to play leading
roles. There he figured in the support of
E. l.. Davenport, Edwin Booth. Charlotte
Cushman. Clara Norris, and other stars.
After five years on the Pacific Coast
Mr.. keene went to Boston. where he
created the role of Coupear in "L'Asso-
moir" c'Dink.'D
1t was in lsso that he first blossomed
out as Shakespearean star. His roper
toire for years has included, Richard
ILL.," Hamlet. ."""Eouis XI." "Othello. y
THE Lady of Lyons Romeo and Ju-
liet" and "Richelieu."
Mr.. Keene haa a fine collection OF Shak-
espeareaniana,, and was at all times Nl-
igent collector of works on the drama.
During the last ten years he had suffered
two paralytic strokes, but his splendid
physique and indomitable will brought
him through.
A feature of his life about which but
little is known Is the period when he suf-
fered an afi1iction which would have COM
pletely discouraged a man of lesser geni-
us and caused one who had less determi-
nation than he to give over the struggle
against what seemed to be an untoward
fate.
In 1885, Mr. Keene became Ill with scar
let fever and It was only win the most
strenuous efforts of his physicians :hat
his life was saved. When he emerged
from the depths of the Illness into which
he had been plunged. the friends of the
tragedian were Mortified to find that he
had been stricken in mind as a conse-
quence of the sickness. which seldom
leaves the sufferer without some token of
its visitation. and that he did not even re-
member the English alphabet. All the
lines which he had mastered during the
years of triumphant Shakespearean i'm
personation had been forgotten, and the
great mind was reduced to the level of
that of child who has yet to learn the
rudiments Of his mother tongue.
With the persistence characteristic Of
the man and which before had caused
him to rise to the very pinnacle of sue
cess. Mr.. Keene began to learn everything
all over again, and 1t Is one of the most
remarkable OF events which have marked
the stage and its devotees as peculiar
people to note the fact that before eigh-
teen months had passed over his head.
the tragedian again was able to thunder
the stentorian threats of the irascible
Richelieu. voice the tender heart-bursts
of the melancholy Dane and to take the
other parts which he already. had, in a
measure. created as school unto himself
Referring to the occurrence in CONVEX
sation with a representative of The Times
several years afterward. Mr.. Keene told
the story with his usual modesty, Eepre-
eating the illness which had caused him
to lose even few months from his loved
profession and expressing the hope that
he had not been seriously impeded in his
vocation. Few persons, listening to his
lines and admiringly contemplating his
representations of roles requiring the ut
most command of the art, realize that
anything ever happened to cloud the lus-
ter of his superb mind or to hamper him
with a discouragement which would have
been accepted by almost any other man
as utter defeat.