Fanny Mary Whitehead (5 October 1851 – 25 March 1915) was an English actress in the mid-19th century. She was also known, after her marriage as Fanny Bernard-Beere, billed as Mrs. Bernard Beere.

Early life

She was born in 1851 in

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England, the daughter of Francis Wilby Whitehead, who was listed on the 1861 England census as an "Artist and Picture Dealer". Her birth was the result of an affair - it is family lore that her mother was a housekeeper who died shortly after her birth, but it is unknown who this woman could be, since Francis Wilby didn't seem to have any servants. Francis Wilby Whitehead's wife, Elizabeth Jane Jarrold, left him in 1855 because of "his drunkenness and other causes" (adultery) and took her children, except for their son, Francis Wilby, Jr., and emigrated to America. In the 1861 England Census Francis Whitehead is shown as living with his common law wife, Mary Elizabeth Linford, her son James, Francis Wilby, Jr., and Fanny Mary. Her father Francis Wilby Whitehead died in 1862, when Fanny was just 11 years old.

Theatrical career

Beere was trained for the stage by

Hermann Vezin Hermann Vezin (March 2, 1829 – June 12, 1910) was an American actor, teacher of elocution and writer. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and educated at the University of Pennsylvania. Life and work Vezin was born in Philadelphia, Pe ...

, appearing first in London at the

Opera Comique The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, located between Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and K ...

in 1877. Later she played Emilia in ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' and various English comedy roles at the

St. James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham (tenor), John Braham; it lost mone ...

. She appeared in

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...

's play '' Gretchen'' in 1879. In 1883 she was engaged by the Bancrofts to play leading parts in '' ''Fédora'''' and other dramas 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 1891 she played Lady Teazle in Charles Wyndham's production of ''

School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...

'', and two years later played Mrs. Arbuthnot with

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and Actor-manager, theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End theatre, West End, winning ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

's ''

A Woman of No Importance ''A Woman of No Importance'' by Oscar Wilde is "a new and original play of modern life", in four acts, first given on 19 April 1893 at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirises English upper-class society. It ...

''. Beere married three times; firstly in 1874 to Edward Cholmeley Dering (1833–1874), with whom she had a daughter, Janet Elizabeth Adela Dering (1874–1875). In 1876 as a young widow she married merchant Edward Beer (1850–1915) at St. George's church in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

in London. After her second marriage she retired a short time from the stage, presently returning to it as Mrs. Bernard Beere. They presumably divorced before in 1900 as a 'widow' she married wine merchant Alfred Charles Seymour Olivier (1867–1922) in St. Mary's church in Kilburn.The 1911 Classic Encyclopedia, pub. 1911 In 1892 she toured Australia with

Otho Stuart Otho Stuart (9 August 1863 – 1 May 1930) was a British actor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who specialised in performing in the plays of Shakespeare. Stuart played the range of Shakespearean leading men, both with the Company of ...

as her leading man and in the same year visited the United States professionally. She is mentioned in ''Women of History'' where she is referred to as an operatic soprano.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beere, Bernard 1851 births 1915 deaths Actors from King's Lynn English stage actresses 19th-century English actresses 20th-century English actresses English Shakespearean actresses Women of the Victorian era Actresses from Norfolk