Kate Saville (1835/1836 – 7 May 1922) was an English actress. She played leading roles in original productions of many plays in the 1860s.

Life

Kate Saville was a daughter of

John Faucit Saville John Faucit Savill or Saville, also known as John Savill(e) Faucit, stage name Mr Faucit, (1783?–1853) was an English actor, playwright and theatre manager. He married Harriet Diddear, later known as Harriet Elizabeth Savill and as Mrs Faucit. ...

, an actor and playwright, and sister of the actress

Helena Faucit Helena Saville Faucit, Lady Martin (11 October 1817 – 31 October 1898) was an English actress. Early life Born in London, she was the daughter of actors John Saville Faucit and Harriet Elizabeth Savill. Her parents separated when she was a ...

. She first appeared on the London stage in September 1859, in ''Ivy Hall'', adapted by

John Oxenford John Oxenford (12 August 1812 – 21 February 1877) was an English dramatist, critic and translator. Life Oxenford was born in Camberwell, London, his father a prosperous merchant. While he was privately educated, it is reported that he was mos ...

from ''Le Roman d'un jeune homme pauvre'' by

Octave Feuillet Octave Feuillet (11 July 1821 – 29 December 1890) was a French novelist and dramatist. His work stands midway between the romanticists and the realists. He is renowned for his "distinguished and lucid portraiture of life", depictions of fe ...

."Saville, Kate". Charles E. Pascoe, editor. ''The Dramatic List: a record of the performances of living actors and actresses of the British stage'', 1880. In January 1860 she appeared in original productions staged by Madame Céleste, manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London: as Lucie Manette in ''A Tale of Two Cities'', and later as Milaine de St Ange in ''The House on the Bridge of Notre Dame''. She was engaged for the next two years at the

Olympic Theatre Olympic Theater or Olympic Theatre may refer to: * Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, formerly Coppin's Olympic Theatre * National Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, converted to and renamed Olympic Theater in 1873 * Olympic Theatre (London), En ...

in London. Here she created roles in new plays: as Martha Gibbs in

Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch (magazine), ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literatu ...

's ''All that Glitters is not Gold'', as Lady Camilla Hailstone in

Watts Phillips Watts Phillips (16 November 1825 – 2 December 1874) was an English illustrator, novelist and playwright, known for his play ''The Dead Heart'', which served as a model for Charles Dickens' ''A Tale of Two Cities''. In a memoir, his sister Emm ...

's ''Camilla's Husband'', and as May Edwards in Tom Taylor's '' The Ticket-of-Leave Man''. At the

Royal Strand Theatre The Royal Strand Theatre was located in the Strand in the City of Westminster. The theatre was built on the site of a panorama in 1832, and in 1882 was rebuilt by the prolific theatre architect Charles J. Phipps. It was demolished in 1905 to ...

in October 1863 she played the leading role in the original production of ''Miriam's Crime'' by

H. T. Craven Henry Thornton Craven (born Henry Thornton; 26 February 1818 – 13 April 1905) was an English actor and dramatist. Early life and career Craven was born in London in 1818, son of Robert Thornton, a schoolmaster in Holborn. Starting life as a publ ...

. In February 1864 at the

Princess's Theatre The Princess's Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street, London. The building opened in 1828 as the "Queen's Bazaar" and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts. It was converted into a theatre and opened in 18 ...

she was Beatrice in the original performance of ''Paul's Return'' by Watts Phillips; in April 1866 she created the role of Hester Lorrington in ''The Favourite of Fortune'' by

John Westland Marston John Westland Marston (30 January 1819 – 5 January 1890) was an English dramatist and critic. Early Life and Career He was born at Boston, Lincolnshire, on 30 January 1819, was son of the Rev. Stephen Marston, minister of a Baptist congrega ...

, at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...

. In September 1866 at the Surrey Theatre she played the lead female role, Mrs Truegold, in ''True to the Core'' by A. R. Slous. This was the prize drama for that year in a competition established in the will of the actor Thomas Cooke and administered by the

Royal Dramatic College The Royal Dramatic College was a home for retired actors in Woking, England; it was opened by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1865, and closed because of financial difficulty in 1877. Origins of the College On 21 July 1858, at the Prin ...

. In 1872 Kate Saville married William Roby Thorpe, and retired from the stage.Marriage record in

FreeBMD FreeBMD is a website which coordinates and provides free transcriptions of the indexes to births, marriages and deaths (BMD) registrations held by the General Register Office for England and Wales (GRO). It also provides a free search function ...

She died in 1922 at her home in Nottingham, aged 86."Obituary: Miss Kate Saville". ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

'', 11 May 1922. "The death occurred on Sunday night at her residence, 15, Pelham Crescent, The Park, Nottingham, of Mrs. W. Roby Thorpe, known to a former generation of playgoers as Kate Saville. She was in her eighty-seventh year...."

References

External links

Kate Saville
at the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saville, Kate 1830s births 1922 deaths 19th-century English actresses English stage actresses