Julia Marlowe by Arnold Genthe, 1911, vintage gelatin silver print
Julia Marlowe was a stage actress
during the late 1800's and early 1900's. She was born Sarah Frances Frost at
Caldbeck, England, on August 17, 1865. She came to the United States with
her parents, John Frost and Sarah Hogston Frost when she was five years
old. Upon entering the United States, her family settled in the state of
Kansas. From there, they moved to Ironton, Portsmouth and Cincinnati,
Ohio. From 1873 to 1877 she resided in a 3-story brick building on Second
Street in the city of Portsmouth, Ohio. She lived here from age 7 to age
10.
In the March 3, 1903 edition of The Marion Daily Star newspaper,
details of Julia's life in Portsmouth was recounted by Mr. Edward Staiger,
"When
Mr. Staiger was a boy and attended school at Portsmouth, a certain girl who was
known as a tomboy was his classmate. This tomboy left Portsmouth when she
was about ten years of age and went out into the world to become known and
admired, later, as Julia Marlowe.
When
Miss Marlowe lived at Portsmouth, her name was Fannie Brough and she was the
daughter of a woman who ran a boarding house and saloon which was one of the
most popular resorts in the town. Mr. Staiger recalls the girl as an
unpromising youngster, a dare-devil willing to do anything any boy or girl was
afraid to do.
Mrs.
Brough moved to Cincinnati when Julia was about twelve years old, and opened a
boarding house on Sixth street, which she is still running, despite the
achievements of her wonderful daughter. She has since been married to a
man by the name of Beck.
Mr.
Staiger has met his old classmate but once since the days of their childhood
and that was in Cleveland after she had won great favor at the hands of the
theater-going public. Julia greeted him in an old-time rollicking way,
and an evening of most pleasant reminiscences followed."
Another article in the February 2, 1942 issue of
The Marion Star
newspaper recounted:
"There
are still living in Portsmouth those who remember Frances as a gay, lively
girl, fond of making speeches, riding horseback, going on excursions into the
Kentucky hills."
Julia Marlowe as 'Rosalind' in Shakespeare's As You Like It (1904-1913)
I just love her softness in her facial expression here!
Still in Cincinnati, Ohio, nicknamed, ‘Fanny’ she first began her career in
the chorus of a juvenile opera company. She toured with them for a year performing
in Gilbert and Sullivan’s
H.M. S.
Pinafore in 1879, under the direction of Colonel Robert E.J. Miles who was
the manager of the Cincinnati Opera House. She played Sir Joseph Porter and
later in
Pygmailion and
Galatea. She also starred in her first
Shakespearean roles: as Balthazar in
Romeo
and Juliet and then as Maria in
Twelfth
Night. When she met Ada Dow, a relative of her theatre director, she was
told to go to New York to study vocal training formally and attempt to become a
serious stage actress. Her brief roles back in Ohio did not prepare her for
life in New York. Now, a twenty-year old unknown Julia Marlowe attempted to
audition for Shakespearean roles to no avail. When Colonel Miles became the new
manager of the New York Bijou Opera House this gave her an opportunity to tour for
two weeks in New London, Connecticut. She received acclaim for her portrayal of
Ingmar, the Barbarian in Friedrich Halm’s
Der
Sohn der Wildnis during October of 1887. Her next step would be on the
Broadway stage.
Julia Marlowe was touring in Philadelphia in 1891 when she came down with
typhoid fever. Her face became so swollen that doctors suggested lancing it to
release the toxins but another treatment was performed instead. Thank goodness
her face was saved and her career continued.
Julia Marlowe and her first husband Robert Taber, NYPL
She made her Broadway stage debut in 1895 going on to appear in more than
seventy Broadway productions;
most of
them alongside her second husband and fellow stage actor, E.H. Sothern. Her
first husband was Broadway actor Robert Taber. They were married in 1894
through 1900 but had no children.
Apparently, the marriage ended because she was more successful than her
husband and Mr. Taber couldn’t handle it. She divorced him in 1900. Having
saved her money wisely she independently decided to purchase a five story
townhouse in New York City’s Upper West Side neighborhood at 337 Riverside
Drive which is the corner of W. 106
th Street.
337 Riverside Drive on W. 106th Street, NYC, as it stands today!
Julia Marlowe in Jeanne d'Arc. This reminds me so much of a J.W. Waterhouse painting
Julia Marlowe with her second husband E.H. Sothern in Hamlet, NYPL
The successful partnership between Julia Marlowe and E.H. Sothern began in
1904 when they appeared together in
Romeo
and Juliet, Beatrice and Benedick in
Much
Ado About Nothing, and the lead roles in
Hamlet then
The Taming of the
Shrew, The Merchant of Venice and
Twelfth
Night through till 1905. They left their manager Charles Frohman and went
with the Shubert Brothers increasing their profits. In 1906 they starred
together in Percy MacKaye’s
Jeanne d’Arc,
he played the Duc d’Alencon and Julia played Jeanne d’Arc; becoming one of her
most successful roles. Next came Sudermann’s
John the Baptist and Heinrich in
The Sunken Bell to
favorable
reviews. E.H. Sothern became famous and most loved for his performances as
Benedick and Malvolio. After another season in New York it was off to London
but the audiences weren’t really there so they returned to America with a run at
the Academy of Music in New York where audiences who could not afford a
Broadway ticket could now see them perform together. They continued their
Shakespearean repertoire starring in
Antony
and Cleopatra at the New Theatre and in
Macbeth
where they were a hit. They also put on special performances at children’s
schools throughout New York City. By this time E.H. Sothern was divorced from
his first wife having two children from that marriage he married Julia Marlowe
in 1911 and they remained married until his death in New York City at the Plaza
Hotel where they resided until 1933. She retired from acting in 1924, living at
The Plaza until her death in 1950. She died of pneumonia at the age of 73.
Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Sothern in 1922 aboard the RMS Aquitania.
Julia Marlowe in 1950 at 73 years old Vintage publicity photograph
Sources
Julia Marlowe by John Daniel Barry, 1899, Richard G. Badger & Co.,
Boston, Massachusetts
Julia Marlowe: Her Life and Art by Charles Edward Russell, Kessinger
Publishing, 2011
