Louise Pomeroy

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Louise Pomeroy c. 1880

Louise M. Pomeroy née Ryder (c. 1853 – 7 January 1893) was an American actress and writer who was popular in Shakespearean roles in Australia.

Pomeroy was born in Cleveland, Ohio, a daughter of Col. Ryder, a lawyer and judge. Her father's family was of Scottish descent and her mother's of German.[1] At a young age she was married to a Frank Thomas, and after his death she went on the stage.[2] On 15 May 1871 she was married to newspaper owner Mark M. "Brick" Pomeroy, with whom she had a daughter, Louise Rider Pomeroy.[3][4] Under the pen name "Elm Orlou" she edited a section of her husband's Democrat and wrote essays which were widely reproduced.[5][6][1] Her husband objected to her stage ambitions and they separated: he remarried in 1876.[7][a] She had been an amateur actor before, as a pupil of J. B. Roberts, and made her professional debut as Juliet on 16 October 1876 at the Lyceum Theatre, New York.[8] She developed a reputation for Shakespearean heroines: Rosalind in As You Like It, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Imogene in Cymbeline, and Viola in Twelfth Night.[9]

She was brought out to Australia by with great expectations, which were fully realised. Her first appearance was at the Queen's Theatre, Sydney, from 7 October 1880 playing on successive nights Rosalind, Lady Macbeth and Juliet. She played Juliet in Melbourne's Theatre Royal to 's middle-aged Romeo, but his distant performance was overlooked by the audience in their appreciation for Pomeroy.[10] Such was her popularity that they flocked to see her in the rarely-played Cymbeline[11] and A Winter's Tale.[12] in which she played both Hermione and Perdita to an enthusiastic audience. She also drew rave reviews[13] for her impersonation of the "doleful Dane", Prince Hamlet.[b]

In 1882 Pomeroy formed a company to tour country towns in Victoria and Queensland. Members included W. J. Holloway and Mrs Holloway, and Miss Dolly Forde (Mrs Carey), Arthur Elliott ("an actor of considerable promise")[16] who played Romeo to her Juliet,[17] Edwin Palmer, , Misses Blanche Louis and Florence Louis. From these she organised a small but efficient company to tour India, playing first at the Corinthian Theatre, Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 1 December.

Elliott and Pomeroy were married at Bendigo, Victoria, on July 30, 1833.[18] They moved to the US in 1884, and were soon in high demand. She died of pneumonia in New York City on January 7, 1893, aged 40.[19]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Mark Pomeroy was married to his third wife in September 1876,[3] but his divorce with Louise was finalized in August 1877.[7]
  2. ^ Other actresses who notably played Hamlet were Sarah Bernhardt, , , Rose Edouin (Mrs. G. B. W. Lewis),[14] Charlotte Charke, and more recently Frances de la Tour.[15]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Miss Louise Pomeroy". The Bulletin. Vol. 3, no. 37. Sydney. 9 October 1880. p. 3.
  2. ^ "Those Who Have Died". The Indianapolis News. 9 January 1893. p. 5.
  3. ^ a b "Marcus Mills "Brick" Pomeroy". American Pomeroy Historic Genealogical Association. Retrieved 12 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Pomeroy, Albert Alonzo (1912). History and Genealogy of the Pomeroy Family. Toledo, OH: Franklin Printing and Engraving Co. pp. 742–743.
  5. ^ "Personal". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 31 July 1873. p. 4.
  6. ^ Pomeroy, Mark Mills (1890). Reminiscences and Recollections of "Brick" Pomeroy. New York: Advance Thought Company. p. 247.
  7. ^ a b "Brick Pomeroy Divorced Again". The Evening Star. Washington, D.C. 10 August 1877. p. 1.
  8. ^ Phelps, Henry P. (1889). Addenda to Players of a Century. Albany, New York. pp. 34–35.
  9. ^ "News and Notes". The Lorgnette. Vol. XVIII, no. 1409. Victoria, Australia. 29 September 1880. p. 4. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Theatre Royal". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 10, 736. Victoria, Australia. 15 November 1880. p. 6. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ ""Cymbeline"". The Riverine Herald. Vol. XVII, no. 2, 264. New South Wales, Australia. 3 December 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Theatre Royal". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 10, 873. Victoria, Australia. 25 April 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Miss Pomeroy as Hamlet". Geelong Advertiser. No. 10, 608. Victoria, Australia. 5 August 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Stage Asides". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Vol. LVI, no. 224. Queensland, Australia. 18 September 1934. p. 2. Retrieved 19 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Thy Name is Woman: Female Hamlets". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  16. ^ "Victoria Theatre". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 12, 957. New South Wales, Australia. 13 October 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "News and Notes". The Ballarat Star. Vol. XXVII, no. 185. Victoria, Australia. 7 August 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "Marriage of Miss Louise Pomeroy". The Bendigo Advertiser. 31 July 1883. p. 3.
  19. ^ "The Bendigo Advertiser". Bendigo Advertiser. Vol. XLI, no. 11, 798. Victoria, Australia. 18 February 1893. p. 4. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.

External links[]

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