“British Acting Legend ” Charles Kelly Signed 4X4.5 Card

Description: Up for auction a RARE! “British Acting Legend ” Charles Kelly Hand Signed 4X4.5 Card. This is the only known signed item to come to auction in the last 30 years as most of Kelly's items are house in British Museums and collections. ES-2558C Ellen Terry, in full Alice Ellen Terry, (born February 27, 1847, Coventry, Warwickshire, England—died July 21, 1928, Small Hythe, Kent), English actress who became one of the most popular stage performers in both Great Britain and North America. For 24 years (1878–1902) she worked as the leading lady of Sir Henry Irving in one of the most famous partnerships in the theatre. In the 1890s she began her famous “paper courtship” with George Bernard Shaw, one of the most brilliant correspondences in the history of English letter writing. Terry was the second surviving daughter in a large family of which several members were to become well known on the stage. She had no formal schooling, but, trained by her parents, she rapidly developed into a celebrated child actress. At the age of nine she made her debut in the child’s part of Mamillius in The Winter’s Tale, which Charles Kean, son of the actor Edmund Kean, produced in London in April 1856. She remained in Kean’s company until 1859 and later joined the stock company performing at the Theatre Royal, Bristol, where she played leading parts in Shakespeare and in repertory theatre. In 1864, at the age of 16, she left the stage to marry the painter G.F. Watts, whose model she had been. Watts, a neurotic man almost three times her age, made many fine portraits and sketches of her, but the marriage survived a bare 10 months. In her despair Terry could scarcely be induced to return to the stage, but she eventually did so, though playing with little of her former distinction. It was in 1867 that she first appeared, by chance, with Sir Henry Irving, playing Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew The following year she left the stage abruptly to live for six years in Hertfordshire with the architect and theatrical designer Edward Godwin (1833–86), whom she had met in Bristol and who became the father of her children, Edith and Edward Gordon Craig (1872–1966). Edward was to become a renowned actor, stage designer, and producer. When her association with Godwin began to fail, it was the author, dramatist, and producer Charles Reade who found her and brought her back to the stage. In the role of Portia she showed new maturity in a striking production of The Merchant of Venice (1875), designed by Godwin. On parting from Godwin (who married in 1876), she became responsible for rearing their children. Before joining Irving at the Lyceum Theatre in 1878, she completed a successful season at the Court Theatre. In 1877 she received a divorce from Watts and married an actor, Charles Kelly, mainly to give her children a “name.” They soon separated, and Kelly died in 1885.

Price: 699.99 USD

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

End Time: 2024-12-14T11:24:00.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD