Carlotta Leclercq
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Carlotta Leclercq (1838–1893) was a British actress.


Career

Leclercq was born as Margaret Charlotte Leclercq in Lambeth, then part of Surrey. Although she has been said to have been born on 12 June 1838, her baptism is actually recorded as having taken place five years earlier, on 3 April 1833, in Liverpool. She was one of the children of Charles Clark (1797–1861) and his wife, Margaret, ''née'' Burnet. Clark was a pantomimist and ballet master, who performed under the stage name of Charles Leclercq.Knight, Joseph
"Leclercq, Carlotta (1838–1893)"
rev. J Gilliland, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, January 2008 accessed 30 January 2015 .
All of her brothers and sisters were actors:
Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
, Louise, Charles Jr., Arthur and Pierre Leclercq. Leclercq's debut was at the Princess Theatre when she was a child. In 1853 she performed as Maddalina in '' Marco Spada'', followed by Marguerite in '' Faust and Marguerite''. She also performed in the ''Muleteer of Toledo'', ''
The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...
'', ''
The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...
'', ''
The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...
'' and Titania in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.photo by Camille Silvy
Guy Little collection, V and A
Leclerq was the first to play Diana in ''Don't Judge by Appearances'', Brougham's ''Playing with Fire'', Zillah in ''Duke's Motto'', Madame de Pompadour in ''King's Butterfly'', and Lucy Ashton in ''Master of Ravenswood''. She performed at the
Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...
, starring as Mercedes ''Monte Christo'' and as Marguerite in
No Thoroughfare ''No Thoroughfare'' is a stage play and novel by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, both released in December 1867. Background In 1867 Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins collaborated to produce a stage play titled ''No Thoroughfare: A Drama: I ...
in 1868 and as Emily Milburn in ''Black and White.'' She left England and went to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
with
Charles Fechter Charles Albert Fechter (23 October 1824 – 5 August 1879) was an Anglo-French actor. Biography Fechter was born, probably in London, of French parents, although his mother was of Piedmontese and his father of German extraction. As a boy he h ...
. In 1877, she returned to England and married the actor John Nelson in York (the marriage entry gives her name as Margaret Carlotta Leclercq). The two performed together until his death, two years later. She stopped performing after 1879 in London although she made occasional appearances in the provinces. Leclerq became known as a teacher of theatre skills. She died on 9 August 1893 at her home in Chelsea.Joseph Knight, ‘Leclercq, Carlotta (1838–1893)’, rev. J. Gilliland, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 30 Jan 2015
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leclercq, Carlotta 1838 births 1893 deaths 19th-century English actresses English stage actresses Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery