Note F — AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MRS. JOHN DREW WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HER SON
Reading edition
Charles, youngest of the Kemble family, was born the year his sister, Mrs. Siddons, made her first appearance at Drury Lane, 1775. This graceful, elegant actor, after awkward beginnings, became the incomparable Mercutio, Falconbridge, Mirabel, Cassio, Orlando, Captain Absolute, Charles Surface, Romeo, and Benedick of the English stage for nearly a quarter of a century—most of it passed with his talented family at Drury Lane, Haymarket, and Covent Garden Theatres; of the last named he became manager, to his infinite loss and vexation.
Saved from ruin by his daughter's talents, he brought her to America in 1832 to reap a golden harvest. His fame and her beauty, with their combined brilliant acting, filled the leading theatres of the country till 1834, when she married and in 1835 he returned to England to remain. Although he fairly performed leading parts in tragedies such as Hamlet, Pierre, Richard III., and Othello, his gay, gallant, and effective personation of high comedy carried the intelligent audiences by storm.
From 1835 to 1840 he occasionally acted in England, but preferred giving readings of Shakespeare, which he did frequently by royal command, though his increasing deafness interfered greatly with his stage performances. He held the position of Examiner of Plays, to which he had been appointed by the Lord Chamberlain, until his death on November 11, 1854.