Rose Coghlan

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Coghlan, Rose (1851–1932), actress. The sister of Charles Coghlan, the “wide‐eyed, velvet‐voiced, caressing, fascinating, divinely‐smiling” leading lady first came to America in 1871 to play in burlesque with Lydia Thompson and her British blondes. From 1872 until the company disbanded in 1888, Coghlan appeared with Wallack's company, playing such classic parts as Lady Gay Spanker, Lady Teazle, and Rosalind, as well as appearing in such plays as Marriage, Diplomacy, Clarissa Harlowe, A Scrap of Paper, The Silver King, and Lady Clare. In 1893 she produced the first American mounting of Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance, playing Mrs. Arbuthnot. Thereafter her star began to fade, and she turned successfully to vaudeville. In 1908 she toured as Kitty Warren in a controversial production of Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession, then played opposite John Drew and Mary Boland in Jack Straw. During the 1909–10 season she was a member of the repertory company at the New Theatre, offering, among others, her Mrs. Candour, Mistress Page, and Paulina. Coghlan's last major roles were the Duchess of Saurennes in Our Betters (1917) and Madame Rabouin in Deburau (1920). Odell described her as “a ripe and radiant beauty, buxom, blithe and debonair, delightful in high comedy and effective in serious characters or in the high lights of melodrama.” Yet while she won the respect of many audiences, she seems rarely to have gained their affection and, by her admission, was never popular away from New York.