KEMBLE, John Philip, English trage dian, eldest son of Roger Kemble (q.v.) : b. Prescott, Lancashire, 1 Feb. 1757; d. Lausanne, Switzerland, 26 Feb. 1823. He was educated at the Roman Catholic seminary of Sedgley Park, Staffordshire, and the College of Douai, France, where he early distinguished himself by his pro ficiency in elocution. On his return to England he entered immediately upon the profession of an actor and appeared for the first time in Lon don at Drury Lane, 30 Sept. 1783, in the part of Hamlet and was received with great applause. It was not, however, till 1788 that he took a decided lead in tragedy. He afterward ob tained the management of Drury Lane Theatre, where his sister, Mrs. Siddons (q.v.), was the leading actress. In 1794 he brought out a mu sical entertainment of his own, entitled iska,) which had a great run. In 1802 he be came manager of the Covent Garden Theatre, where he continued his career with great suc cess till the destruction of the theatre by fire in 1808. In the autumn of 1809 the new edifice
which had been constructed opened with an in crease of prices, which, with certain obnoxious arrangements in regard to the private boxes, created for a series of nights the disturbances known by the name of the 0. P. riots. Kemble retired from the stage 23 June 1817. As an actor he was distinguished for dignity, precision and studious preparation. His merits were dif ferently appreciated, but by all he was regarded as a highly gifted actor, and the impressions made in characters more immediately adapted to his style of excellence, such as Cato, Corio lanus, Hamlet, John, Jaques, Penruddock, was very great. Consult Boaden, 'Memoirs of the Life of John Philip Kemble' (1825).