Doris Keane
Encyclopedia
Doris Keane was an American actress.
She was born in the USA but educated largely in Europe
.
Her first professional role was in Whitewashing Julia in 1903. This was a small role but she went on to play leading roles in The Happy Marriage in 1909 and The Lights o' London in 1911.
In 1913, she played Margherita Cavallini in Edward Sheldon
's Romance. Her leading man in this long running play was William Courtenay who played the part of a priest. Sheldon had originally offered the male lead to his friend John Barrymore
. Barrymore turned it down preferring to still do comedies. Sheldon reportedly fell in love with her and yearned for her all his life. She played this part in America
and Europe for the next five years and returned in revivals regularly during the 1920s. In 1920, she made a silent film of Romance distributed by the then newly formed United Artists
. Her male lead in the film was Norman Trevor. She also played Catherine the Great in Czarina in 1922 after Sheldon had revised the play especially for her.
She married the much younger actor Basil Sydney
in 1918; they divorced in 1925. She had one child, a daughter Ronda, from a previous relationship before her marriage to Basil Sydney. Ronda married a man by the name of Munschenheim. Keane died in 1945 and was cremated.
She was born in the USA but educated largely in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Her first professional role was in Whitewashing Julia in 1903. This was a small role but she went on to play leading roles in The Happy Marriage in 1909 and The Lights o' London in 1911.
In 1913, she played Margherita Cavallini in Edward Sheldon
Edward Sheldon
Edward Brewster Sheldon was an American dramatist. His plays include Salvation Nell and Romance , which was made into a motion picture with Greta Garbo....
's Romance. Her leading man in this long running play was William Courtenay who played the part of a priest. Sheldon had originally offered the male lead to his friend John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
. Barrymore turned it down preferring to still do comedies. Sheldon reportedly fell in love with her and yearned for her all his life. She played this part in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Europe for the next five years and returned in revivals regularly during the 1920s. In 1920, she made a silent film of Romance distributed by the then newly formed United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
. Her male lead in the film was Norman Trevor. She also played Catherine the Great in Czarina in 1922 after Sheldon had revised the play especially for her.
She married the much younger actor Basil Sydney
Basil Sydney
Basil Sydney was an English actor who made over fifty screen appearances, most memorably as Claudius in Laurence Olivier's 1948 film of Hamlet. He also appeared in classic films like Treasure Island , Ivanhoe and Around the World in Eighty Days , but the focus of his career was the legitimate...
in 1918; they divorced in 1925. She had one child, a daughter Ronda, from a previous relationship before her marriage to Basil Sydney. Ronda married a man by the name of Munschenheim. Keane died in 1945 and was cremated.
External links
- Doris Keane at Internet Movie Database
- Doris Keane at the Internet Broadway Database
- Doris Keane photo at NYP Library
- Doris Keane portrait at the Univ of Louisville, Macauley's Theatre collection
- Doris Keane and Jacob Ben-Ami in 1924 portrait