Roselle Knott (born Agnes Roselle; March 19, 1865 – January 28, 1948), was a Canadian actress.

Early life

Agnes Roselle was born in Ancaster,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

, the daughter of Abraham Rossell and Agnes Jane McDavid Rossell. (Birth years vary across sources, from 1863 to 1870.)

Career

Roselle Knott began her stage career in Canada, at the Hamilton Academy of Music. In 1893 she debuted in New York, in a production of Shakespeare's ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

''. She also appeared that year in an all-women cast of ''As You Like It'', as a member of the Women's Professional League. In 1900, she starred in ''Quo Vadis'' at the Empire Theatre, and on tour in Chicago and Boston. Knott toured with

Richard Mansfield Richard Mansfield (24 May 1857 – 30 August 1907) was a German-born English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the play ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1887 play), Dr. Jekyll and Mr ...

's company in '' A Parisian Romance'' and ''Beau Brummel''. She succeeded

Julia Marlowe Julia Marlowe (born Sarah Frances Frost; August 17, 1865 – November 12, 1950) was an English-born American actress, known for her interpretations of William Shakespeare's plays. Life and career Marlowe was born as Sarah Frances Frost, on Aug ...

in the role of Mary Tudor in '' When Knighthood was in Flower'' by Charles Major, from 1902 to 1903. In 1906, she played the title role in ''The Duchess of Devonshire'', written for her by Elizabeth Johnson Ward Doremus. Knott was on stage in

Logansport, Indiana Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,366 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana at the junction of the Wabash River, Wabash an ...

in 1906, appearing in ''Alice Sit-by-the-Fire'' by

James Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, when a fire began in the backstage. She was credited with calmly continuing her performance to prevent a panic, and no audience members died. Knott retired from the stage in 1907, after a tour of Australia with her second husband's company. However, she was back to acting by 1911, playing older Shakespearean roles, including

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

. In 1912 she toured North America in ''The Awakening of Helena Richie'', and reportedly set off "a sort of Roselle Knott epidemic", as the name Roselle was given to new babies in the cities she visited: "I like the name myself, and do not wonder that mothers give it to their girl babies," she told 1912 newspaper. She directed plays in Hamilton, and moved to New York City to start her own company in 1916. Knott retired again from acting in 1936, but after that taught acting in New York City. Among her students were Robert Montgomery and

Miriam Hopkins Ellen Miriam Hopkins (October 18, 1902 – October 9, 1972) was an American actress known for her versatility. She signed with Paramount Pictures in 1930. She portrayed a pickpocket in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy '' Trouble in Paradise'', ...

Personal life

Agnes Roselle married actor Thomas Knott in 1884. They had three children: Ivey, Viola, and Thomas Jr. Ivey died in infancy in 1885. Thomas Knott Sr. died in a sports accident in 1896. She married again in 1907, to theatrical producer Ernest George Montague Shipman. They divorced in 1912; he married young actress

Nell Shipman Nell Shipman (born Helen Foster-Barham; October 25, 1892 – January 23, 1970) was a Canadian actress, writer, and director who was active in silent film in the 1910s and 1920s. She used "the girl from God's country" as her sobriquet after starr ...

soon after. Roselle Knott died in 1948, aged 82 years, in Hamilton. One of the many babies named for Roselle was her granddaughter, Roselle Heaps DeCarli (1930–2002).

References

External links

* * James Samuel Windeatt
"Roselle Knott, as 'Lygia, the Christian in Quo Vadis'"
(1900), a photograph in the collection of the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

.
"Fruit Pudding"
a dessert recipe contributed by Knott to an actors' cookbook in 1916, a fundraiser organized by Mabel Rowland during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Knott, Roselle 1865 births 1948 deaths 19th-century Canadian actresses Canadian stage actresses 20th-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian Shakespearean actresses