Janet Achurch

Janet Achurch

Janet Achurch (1864-1916) was an English stage actress. She made her London debut in 1883. She played many Shakespearean roles, but is best known as a pioneer of major roles in the works of Ibsen. She played Nora in "A Doll's House" and produced and starred in "Little Eyolf" (1896). She also appeared in new plays by George Bernard Shaw. She retired in 1913.

Janet Sharp on January 17, 1863 at 47 Richmond Grove, Chorlton upon Melock, Lancashire England. Her mother died during the birth and she was subsequently raised by her insurance agent father William Prior Sharp.She claimed to be the descendant of a long line of actors, and it is their name from which she drew her stage name. James and Mary Achurch, her great-grandparents, had been managers of the Theatre Royal in Manchester, England. She did follow in her family’s tradition when, after she was educated privately up until 1881, she attended Sarah Thorne’s actor training school in Maragate.

Her first appearance on stage was in 1883 at the Olympic theater in London in the farce Betsy Baker. From 1883 to her retirement in 1913, she appeared in a wide range of roles, in London, touring England, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, India, and Egypt. In 1893, she took over management of the Novelty Theater in London. That year she played one of her most notable roles as Nora in the English premiere of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. This increased her notoriety as well as Ibsen’s standing in England.The playwright George Bernard Shaw was a big supporter and advocate of her work on stage, writing the title role of his play Candida with her in mind and would only allow it to be performed if she was to play the part. It took three years for this to happen and she performed it in Her Majesty’s Theater in 1897.

In 1889, during her tour with her actor husband Charles Charrington (whom she married in 1886) in Egypt, she gave birth to a stillborn child in Cairo. Achurch almost died during the birth and the subsequent pain forced her to use increasingly large doses of morphine to get through her performances. This new addiction was added to her propensity towards alcoholism and depression.

Her last performance was in 1913 as Merete Bery in Wiers-Jenssen’s "The Witch". After battle exhaustion and illness, she immediately declared her retirement from the stage after the production closed. She died of morphine poisoning on September 11, 1916 at the age of 52 at 4 Devonshire Terrace, Ventnor, Isle of Wight.

References

Salmon, Eric. “Achurch, Janet (1863–1916).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. May 2007. 30 Sept. 2007 .


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • List of drug-related deaths — The following is a list of notable people who have died from drug related causes. Criteria for inclusion are death from overdose, death from organ failure/illness due to or exacerbated by drug use, or death from suicide/misadventure under the… …   Wikipedia

  • A Doll's House — For other uses, see A Doll s House (disambiguation). A Doll s House Original manuscript cover page, 1879 Written by Henrik Ibsen …   Wikipedia

  • Mrs. Warren's Profession — Mrs Warren s Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893. The story centers on the relationship between Mrs Kitty Warren, a brothel owner, described by the author as on the whole, a genial and fairly presentable old blackguard of… …   Wikipedia

  • Mrs. Warren's Profession — Mrs Warren s Profession (Traducido como La profesión de la Señora Warren) es una obra escrita por George Bernard Shaw en 1893. Shaw dijo que escribió la obra para llamar la atención a la verdad de que la prostitución es causada, no por… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Margate — For other uses, see Margate (disambiguation). Coordinates: 51°23′06″N 1°23′02″E / 51.3850°N 1.3838°E / 51.3850; 1.3838 …   Wikipedia

  • Masks or Faces — Masks or Faces? A Study in the Psychology of Acting, is an 1888 book by William Archer.[2] It is based on a series of articles entitled “The Anatomy of Acting” that he had previously published in Longman s Magazine.[1] Conte …   Wikipedia

  • Sarah Thorne — (10 May 1836 – 27 February 1899) was a British actress and actor manager of the nineteenth century who managed the Theatre Royal at Margate for many years and who ran a School for Acting there widely regarded as Britain s first formal drama… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”