Julia Marlowe

Julia Marlowe (August 17, 1865 – November 12, 1950) was an English-born American actress known for her interpretations of William Shakespeare.

Life and career

Marlowe was born as Sarah Frances Frost at Caldbeck, Cumberland, England, to clogger and shoemaker John Frost and Sarah (Strong) Hodgson. When she was four her family emigrated to the United States. Her father, who was an avid fan of local sports, "fled to America in 1870 under the erroneous impression that he had destroyed a neighbor's eye by flicking a whip at him during a race." He changed his name to Brough and after first settling in Kansas he moved his family east to Portsmouth, Ohio and then Cincinnati.

Early career

Marlowe obtained the nickname of "Fanny" and in her early teens began her career in the chorus of a juvenile opera company. While touring with the company for nearly a year performing Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore (1879), under the direction of Colonel Robert E.J. Miles (manager of the Cincinnati Opera House) she was given the part of Sir Joseph Porter. She later played in W. S. Gilbert's Pygmalion and Galatea.