KEAN, EDMUND (1787-1833), was born in London on March 17, 1787. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect's clerk; and his mother was an actress, Ann Carey, grand-daughter of Henry Carey. In his fourth year Kean made his first appearance on the stage as Cupid in Noverre's ballet of Cymon. At seven years old he was sent to school, but ran away to sea as cabin boy. Finding the restraint on board ship even worse than that of the school, he counterfeited both deafness and lameness with a histrionic mastery which deceived even the physicians at Madeira. On his return to England he sought out his uncle Moses Kean, mimic, ventriloquist and general enter tainer, who introduced him to the study of Shakespeare, while Miss Tidswell, an actress who had been kind to him from infancy, taught him to act. On the death of his uncle Miss Tidswell took charge of him, and under her direction he began the systematic study of the principal Shakespearian characters. His talents induced a Mrs. Clarke to adopt him, but the slight of a visitor wounded his pride, and he went back to his old surroundings. In his fourteenth year he obtained an engagement to play leading characters for twenty nights in York Theatre, appearing as Ham let, Hastings and Cato. Shortly afterwards, while he was in the strolling troupe belonging to Richardson's show, the rumour of his abilities reached George III., who commanded him to recite at Windsor. He subsequently joined Saunders's circus, where in the performance of an equestrian feat he fell and broke his legs. About this time he picked up music from Charles Incledon, dancing from D'Egville, and fencing from Angelo. In 1807 he played leading parts in the Belfast theatre with Mrs. Siddons, who began by calling him "a horrid little man" and on further experience of his ability said that he "played very, very well," but that "there was too little of him to make a great actor." An engagement in i8o8 to play leading characters in Beverley's provincial troupe ended in his marriage (July 17) with Mary Chambers of Waterford, the leading actress. For several years his prospects were very gloomy, but in 1814 the committee of Drury Lane theatre resolved to give him a chance among the "experiments" they were making to retrieve the fortunes of the house. His opening at Drury Lane on Jan. 26, 1814, as Shylock roused the audience to almost uncontrollable enthusiasm. Suc cessive appearances in Richard III., Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and Lear served to demonstrate his complete mastery of the whole range of tragic emotion. He himself said on one occasion, "I could not feel the stage under me." On Nov. 29, 1820, Kean appeared for the first time in New York as Richard III. ; the American visit, which lasted until the next summer, was a great success.
After his return to England Kean fell into a series of difficulties. His wife left him after his appearance as co-respondent in the case of Cox v. Kean, and he was violently attacked when he appeared on the stage both in England and in America, where he spent the year 1825-26. His last performance in New York was on Dec. 5, 1826, and after his return to England the public hostility had vanished. But his great powers were failing, and the process
was hastened by his irregular habits. His last appearance on the stage was at Covent Garden, on March 25, 1833, when he played Othello to the Iago of his son Charles. At the words "Villain, be sure," in scene 3 of act iii., he suddenly broke down, and crying in a faltering voice "0 God, I am dying. Speak to them, Charles," fell insensible into his son's arms. He died at Richmond on May 15, 1833.
It was in the impersonation of the great Shakespearian char acters that the varied beauty and grandeur of the acting of Kean were displayed in their highest form, although probably his most powerful performance was in the part of Sir Giles Over reach in Massinger's A New Way to Pay Old Debts, the effect of his first impersonation of which was such that the pit rose en masse, and even the actors and actresses themselves were over come by the terrific dramatic illusion. His only personal disad vantage as an actor was his small stature. His countenance was unusually mobile ; he had a matchless command of facial expres sion; his fine eyes scintillated with the slightest shades of emo tion and thought ; his voice, though weak and harsh in the upper register, possessed in its lower range musical tones of penetrat ing and resistless power. Kean specially excelled as the exponent of passion. In Othello, Iago, Shylock and Richard III., charac ters utterly different from each other, but in which the pre dominant element is some form of passion, his identification with the personality, as he had conceived it, was as nearly as possible perfect, and each isolated phase and aspect of the plot was elaborated with the minutest attention to detail, and yet with an absolute subordination of these to the distinct individuality he was endeavouring to portray. Coleridge said, "Seeing him act was like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning." If the range of character in which Kean attained supreme excellence was narrow, but no one except Garrick has been so successful in so many great impersonations.
Kean's eccentricities at the height of his fame were numerous. Sometimes he would ride recklessly on his horse Shylock through out the night. He was presented with a tame lion with which he might be found playing in his drawing-room. The prizefighters Mendoza and Richmond the Black were among his visitors. Grattan was his devoted friend. In his earlier days Talma said of him, "He is a magnificent uncut gem ; polish and round him off and he will be a perfect tragedian." The life of Edmund Kean formed the subject for a play by the elder Dumas, entitled Kean, ou desordre et genie, in which Frederick-Lemaitre achieved one of his greatest triumphs.