FAMOUS ACTRESS DEAD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22215, 16 September 1935, Page 9

FAMOUS ACTRESS DEAD

DAME MADGE KENDAL OVER 50 YEARS ON THE STAGE (Received September 15, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 14 The death has occurred of Dame Madge Kendal, famous English actress, aged 86. Margaret—popularly known as Madge—Kendal, the famous actress, came of a theatridJil family. Her father, William Robertson, and her mother, who was of German birth, played in a circuit of towns in Lincolnshire and brought up a family' of 22, of whom T. W. Robertson, the dramatist, was the eldest and Mrs. Kendal, born at Cleethorpe, Lincolnshire, in March, 1849, the youngesit. Her first appearance on the stage took place at the old Marylebone Theatre as the child in "The Orphan of the Frozen Sea," in 1854. She played ma:iy other juvenile parts there and elfiewhere, including Eva in "Uncle Tom's Cabin ' at Bristol. Her gifts secured her numerous other engagements and by 1865 she was playing Ophelia and Desdemona at the Haymarket, London. While still in her 'teens she appeared with Phelps as Lady Macbeth. Deceased married William H. Kendal in 1869 while they were acting in Manchester. The bride and bridegroom were called on to inaugurate their married life as Rosalind and Orlando. Their secret was out and, wlen it came to the lines "Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?" there was a great outburst of applause. Iter father had made the couple promise that they would alwavs act together and this pledge was kept, though it involved the refusal of attractive engagements.

After leaving the Haymarket in 1874 the Kendals went on tour and then appeared at the Court Theatre inth John Hare, one of the great successes being "A Scrap of Paper." In 1876 they played at the Prince of Wales' with the Bancrofts in "Diplomacy" und "London Assurance." but irt 1879 r»» joined Hare at the-St. James' Theatre, remaining there till 1888.

In February, ISS7, Mrs. Kendal wa» "commanded" with her husband to appear at Osborne before Queen Victoria, who had not witnessed a play since the death of the Prince Consort over 2o years previously. They gave "Sweethearts'' and "Uncle's Will," to the great enjoyment of Her Majesty. When the Kendals decided on a tour in America in 1889, a farewell banquet was given them by a distinguished group of friends with Mr. Joseph Chamberlain in the chair, and a beautiful diamond star was presented to the actress. While in Philadelphia Mrs. Kendal had a terrible experience. As she was about to take her call, she asked for a glass of the tonic she was using and the maid by mistake gavß her poison. She "at once took such remedies as were at hand, sent for a doctor and went on with her part in intense agony with a mouth that seemed full of flame. For three weeks she ispent her days in bed and her evenings on the stage. Her doctor said thf.t, if she had swallowed a few more drops of the liquid she would have been doomed.

Sirs. Kendal's most notable successes, apart from those already mentioned, ■were in "The Ironmaster," "The Money-Spinner," '-'The Hobbv Horse," "A \Vhite Lie," "The House of Clay," "The Melcombe Marriage." "The Housekeeper," "A Tight Corner," "The Whirlpool," "Impulse" and "The Squire." In later years her most popular appearances were in "The Elder Miss Blossom," "St. Martin's Summer," "The Likeness of the Night" and "The Secret Orchard." In June, 1002, she appeared with Tree and Ellen Terry as Mistress Ford in "The Merry Wives of Windsor." Sintfe 1803 she had practically retired from the :>tage, her only appearance being at the gala performance on June 27, 1911. when she again played Mistress Ford. In 1933, at the age of 84, she snoko the part of Rosalind in "As Yop Like It" —in which she first appeared 65 years before—to make a record for broadcasting. She was created a Dame of the order of the British Emnire in 1926.' Her husband died in 1917.