Marlowe, Julia

Marlowe, Julia [née Sarah Frances Frost] (1866–1950), actress. Born in England, at the age of four, she was brought by her mother to America where the family assumed the name of Brough. It was as Fanny Brough that she made her stage debut in 1879 in one of the many juvenile troupes of H.M.S. Pinafore that were the rage of the day. She continued to sing in comic opera for several seasons before playing Heinrich in a touring company of Rip Van Winkle in 1882. After studying with Ada Dow and performing in a dramatic company run by Colonel R. E. J. Miles, she made her New York debut as Parthenia in Ingomar (1887). Marlowe rose rapidly in public esteem, offering over the next few seasons her Viola, Rosalind, and Julia (in The Hunchback). In 1896 she was Lydia Languish in the all‐star revival of The Rivals, and for several years she played Shakespearean heroines opposite her first husband, Richard Taber. Following their separation she created the title role in Barbara Frietchie (1899), then portrayed Mary Tudor in When Knighthood Was in Flower (1901). Marlowe assumed these roles at the behest of the Theatrical Syndicate or Trust which wanted her to gain a larger following and also to cover the financial losses her Shakespearean tours had incurred. Most of her later career was again in Shakespearean roles, this time opposite her second husband, E. H. Sothern. An early biographer described Marlowe as “of medium height, slender and frail of aspect, with a pale and rather sallow face, great, dark, and wistful eyes, a head that seemed too big for her body, beautiful, dark‐brown hair.” Many critics remarked on her prominent cleft chin. Her recording of Juliet suggests a lush, musical, and fruity delivery that would be too artificial for modern tastes. Biography: Julia Marlowe's Story, E. H. Sothern, edited by Fairfax Downey, 1954.