KEMBLE, John Philip, one of the greatest tragedians that England ever produced, was born on the 1st of February 1757, at Prescot, in Lancashire. Mr Roger Kemble, his father, though only the manager of a provincial company of actors, was of ancient and respectable family; and, sensible of the disadvantages attending his own profession, sent his son to receive his education at a Roman Catholic seminary, for the purpose, it is believed, of qualifying him to take orders in the Catholic church. He was also a student for two or three years at the College of Douay; but the strength of natural bias prevailed, and he became an actor in 1776. After performing in York, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dublin, and other places, and gradually acquiring reputation, he made his first appearance before a London audience on the 30th of September 1783, in the character of Hamlet. He was received by the public generally with great applause, although, as always happens in such cases, a party lagged behind, preferring and paying greater homage to a favourite idol of longer standing. He rapidly attained an acknowledged pre-eminence in the tragic scene, and took that decided lead which he ever afterwards maintained. He subsequently undertook the management of Drury Lane Theatre, which he conducted, with only a slight interruption, till 1801; and during that period the drama was indebted to him for various and considerable improvements, particularly in introducing appropriate costume. In 1794, he brought out a musical piece of his own, entitled Lodoiska, which was very successful at the time, and is still occasionally performed. He likewise revived old pieces of merit, and brought forward many new productions, some of which were of considerable merit, altered by himself. In 1802, he visited the Continent; and on his return to London, purchased a sixth share of Covent Garden Theatre, and became manager of that establishment. His career in this place was brilliantly successful, but partially suspended in consequence of the total destruction of the theatre by fire in 1809. A new edifice, however, was speedily reared, and opened with an increase of entrance-money, which, along with certain arrangements regarding the private boxes, created a series of disturbances, known by the name of O. P. riots, which lasted for sixty-six nights, and in which the public finally [7:12:690]carried their point. Kemble stood the storm with firmness; but he was subjected to much insolence, without having the power of retaliation within his reach. In 1812 he retired for two years, conceiving he had done his part, and being desirous of repose. His return to the stage was hailed with the utmost enthusiasm. He rose to the summit of popularity, and was acknowledged, without dispute, as the first actor in Britain, probably in the world. His health, however, began to give way; and he formed the resolution of taking farewell of the stage, which he did on the 23d of July 1817, after performing, with unabated power, his great character of Coriolanus. The “Valedictory Stanzas” addressed to him at a public meeting held in that month, do equal honour to the actor, and the poet Mr Campbell; and Sir Walter Scott composed the “Farewell Address” which he delivered on taking leave of the Edinburgh stage in the month of March preceding. He retired to the Continent, and fixed his residence at Lausanne, where he died on the 26th of February 1823.

In judging of the talents of Mr Kemble, we must regard him in the threefold character of actor, manager, and improver of dramatic representation. In reference to the first, tragedy, and that of the most stately and majestic character, was the line in which he excelled. His person was on a scale suited to the stage, being tall and stately; his countenance, in nobleness of expression, resembled the finest models of the antique; and his movements and demeanour, at once majestic and graceful, corresponded to the heroic cast of his form and features. What others assumed, seemed in him to be nherent. He looked an abstraction of the characteristics of tragedy, and trode the stage with solemn and majestic step, as if he were there “native, and to the manner born.” His style was his own, and seemed to grow out of the peculiar qualities of his person and his intellect. It was that in which taste and judgment qualify and soften spontaneous conception and feeling with profound consideration, measured dignity, and learned precision. Talking of him generally, his deportment was solemn, his movements slow, his utterance deliberate, and always finely articulated, and his bearing and expression of countenance contemplative. His voice was distinct and impressive; but an early tendency to asthma rendered it necessary for him to husband his efforts in the more level parts, reserving them for those bursts of passion to which he gave such sublime effect. His acting was the result of long and laborious study, assisted by learning; he was a profound master in his art, and metaphysically curious in expressing each line of his part with the accent and manner exactly appropriate. Every word of a sentence had its peculiar emphasis; and this attention to minute details led him sometimes to suspend the action so long as to injure the effect, which, to be perfectly grand, should be instant, and not anticipated by any “note of preparation.” A sacrifice of energy of action to grace has likewise been reckoned amongst the faults ascribed to this great actor; but this was more than compensated by the correctness of his conception of character, the precision of his taste, the patience of his investigation, which allowed of no point passing unconsidered, and that moral firmness which enabled him to maintain his own views regarding readings, when he believed himself in the right, against all opposition. Although some detracted from his merits on account of his peculiarities, all concurred in regarding him as a highly-gifted actor; and the impression which he made in characters more immediately adapted to his style of excellence, such as Cato, Coriolanus, Penruddock, Brutus, Macbeth, Hamlet, John, Jaques, and many others, will last as long as any mere recollection connected with the drama can last. As a manager he was gentlemanly, accurate, and regular; but somewhat strict. Reformation was carríed by him into almost every department of the drama, and his innovations were calculated to confer permanent benefit on the art. Before his time there was no such thing as regular costume, and anachronisms of dress of the most ludicrous description were constantly exhibited. These Kemble reformed, by diligently consulting illuminated manuscripts, ancient pictures, and other contemporary authorities. Scenic decoration he also carried to a high degree of perfection, thereby adding to the splendour and illusion of the drama. In early life he published a volume of Fugitive Pieces ; but all the copies of this production he afterwards carefully destroyed. His life (in 2 vols. 8vo, 1825) has been written by Mr James Boaden, a person whose power of doing justice to the subject of his biography appears to be extremely disproportionate to the admiration with which the great founder of the classic school of acting had inspired him. (r. r. r.)