Rosa Cooper (1829 – 4 September 1877) was an English actor and manager, popular in Australia.

History

Cooper was married to actor Lionel Harding; the two frequently appeared on stage together. They first appeared on the Australian stage at the

Theatre Royal, Ballarat The Theatre Royal, Ballarat was a theatre in Ballarat, Victoria. It was the first permanent theatre built in Inland Australia. When the theatre opened in 1858, it was the finest structure in the gold-rich town, and possibly the grandest and most u ...

on 23 November 1863 in

Mary Elizabeth Braddon Mary Elizabeth Braddon (4 October 1835 – 4 February 1915) was an English popular Novelists, novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel ''Lady Audley's Secret'', which has also been dramatised and filmed seve ...

's ''Aurora Floyd'', followed by Bendigo in December 1863 with the drama ''Catherine Howard; or, the Throne, the Tomb, and the Scaffold'', with Cooper as Howard, betrothed and secretly married to Percy, Duke of Northumberland, played by Harding. In 1869 Harding, Habbe and Wilson refurbished Sydney's Alexandra Hall, renaming it the Theatre Royal Adelphi. Among the plays that opened there was Cooper's production of

H. J. Byron Henry James Byron (8 January 1835 – 11 April 1884) was a prolific English dramatist, as well as an editor, journalist, director, theatre manager, novelist and actor. After an abortive start at a medical career, Byron struggled as a provincia ...

's ''The Lancashire Lass'' on 23 July 1870, an Australian premiere. She was particularly noted for her Lady Isabel in ''

East Lynne ''East Lynne, or, The Earl's Daughter'' is an 1861 English sensation novel by Ellen Wood, writing as Mrs. Henry Wood. A Victorian-era bestseller, it is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot centering on infidelity and dou ...

''. She returned to Ballarat in October 1874 with an excellent supporting cast, for a strenuous 6-week program of quality drama, but barely met expenses, leading the Melbourne ''Heralds critic to pour scorn on the town's artistic taste. She was ailing when she left Australia by the RMSS ''Pera'' in 1875, and died of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

in India shortly after being released from hospital.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Rosa 1829 births 1877 deaths 19th-century English actresses 19th-century Australian actresses