Frederick Kerr (born Frederick Grinham Keen, 11 October 1858 – 3 May 1933) was an English actor who appeared on stage in both

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and in British and American films; he also worked as a major theatrical manager in London.

Early life

Frederick Kerr was born Frederick Grinham Keen on 11 October 1858 in

, the elder son of Grinham Keen, a solicitor. He was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

and

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

. After graduating from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1880, he enrolled at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

with the intention of becoming a barrister, but left shortly afterwards to pursue a career as an actor.http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2017c.pl?sur=Keen&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=&sye=1877&eye=1880&col=all&maxcount=50 "FRED—THE KERRS—GEOFFREY" New York Times Drama/Music/Fashion/Screen, 7 November 1920, page 88 (available online at th
New York Times archive
/ref>

Theatre career

He went to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1880 and worked as a sketch artist, when sheer chance turned him into an actor. He was living in a boarding house on 7th Avenue, where a number of theatrical people also lived, among them

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...

, who eventually became his manager. Osmond Tearle, an actor living there, heard from his own producer that an Englishman was needed for a production of '' The School for Scandal''. Tearle recruited Frederick, who got the part in January 1882 (which is also likely the moment he took the stage surname of "Kerr"). He appeared in several more plays in New York City that year, but left for Britain to appear in a London play in December 1882, after which he joined the company at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

managed by John Clayton and Arthur Cecil. Over the next fifty years, he travelled back and forth across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

several times for theatrical work both in New York City and in London. Kerr became actor-manager of the Vaudeville Theatre in London in 1895 and later managed the Royal Court Theatre. He starred in ''Public Opinion'' at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c. 1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the arch ...

in 1905 and also as the titular pirate in

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

's ''

Captain Brassbound's Conversion ''Captain Brassbound's Conversion'' (1900) is a play by G. Bernard Shaw. It was published in Shaw's 1901 collection '' Three Plays for Puritans'' (together with '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' and '' The Devil's Disciple''). The first American produ ...

'' at the Court Theatre in 1906.

Film career

In addition to his stage career, Kerr also appeared in 19 films between

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

and

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

. He is best known as the old Baron Frankenstein in ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

'' (1931).

Filmography

Writing career

His memoirs were published in 1930 under the title ''Recollections of a Defective Memory''.

Personal life and death

Kerr married Lucy Houghton Dowson (b. 1864) in April 1894. They had three children: a son, Geoffrey Kemble Grinham Keen (1895–1971) who acted under the stage name

Geoffrey Kerr Geoffrey Kerr (born Geoffrey Kemble Grinham Keen; 26 January 1895 – 1 July 1971) was a British stage and film actor and writer during the middle of the 20th century. Early life Geoffrey Kemble Grinham Keen was born on 26 January 1895, in Lon ...

; and two daughters, Lucy Joyce Gunning Keen (b. 1897) who married James Boswell Talbot, 3rd Baron Talbot de Malahide, and Frances Mary Keen (1904–1942), who was an actor and writer using the name Molly Kerr. His grandson was actor John Kerr. Kerr was a heavy smoker and suffered from

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

in his later years. He died from the consequences of an earlier

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in a nursing home in London on 2 May 1933 at the age of 74. His interment was at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...

.Mid-Sussex Times, 9th May 1933, p 6.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Frederick 1858 births 1933 deaths 19th-century English male actors 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English memoirists English male film actors English male silent film actors English male stage actors People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Male actors from London Deaths from lung cancer in England Writers from London