Thomas Wallace Keene

Background

Thomas Wallace Keene, whose real name was Thomas R. Eagleson, was born on October 26, 1840 in New York City, New York, United States. He was the son of a journalist named Eagleson, who died while Thomas was a child.

Career

Like so many New York boys of the time, Keene attended the old Bowery Theatre and very early got a chance to appear in small parts, becoming a professional actor while still in his teens. His first important part, however, he recorded in later life, was with James Henry Hackett, who engaged him to come to Albany to play Henry IV in 1862. He studied the role on the train. He played Robert to John E. Owens' Solon Shingle, was juvenile at Wood's Theatre, made a tour of the West, and a trip to England.

In 1875 he performed for the famous California Theatre Stock Company in San Francisco, remaining with this organization five years, and greatly increasing his reputation, especially by his support of Booth when that actor played a long guest engagement with the company. In 1880 he returned to the East, acting Coupeau in Drink with much success in Boston, and then going to Chicago as a star. This experiment succeeded so well that he embarked on a tour of the country in a repertory which included Richard III (long his most popular role), Hamlet, Louis XI, Othello, Romeo, Richelieu, and occasionally other similar parts. This tour was annually repeated, and Keene prospered, though as time went on he was more welcome in the smaller cities than in the large centers, where he often played in popular-priced houses such as the Grand Opera House in Boston.

Later in life he bought an old tavern at Castleton Corners, Staten Island, where his family made their home, and where he was greatly beloved by his neighbors. In 1898, while on a tour of Canada, he was stricken with appendicitis, was brought home, and died.

His acting, certainly, was of the florid, robust school. A Boston critic spoke of his "full voiced, demonstrative tragedy. " He himself often declared that what he called "the majestic method" was alone fitted to project tragic rôles. "Emotional stilts" was another term he used to describe his ideal. In 1895 he told an interviewer that every seven years a new generation of dramatic students grew up who wanted to hear him in Shakespeare, which explained the success of his tours. For modern plays, as for the modern method of acting them, he had little sympathy. But he was aware that his fame was not equal to that of Booth or Barrett, and it sometimes saddened him. Doubtless his skill was not so great as theirs, nor his methods so refined, but he lived on after their passing, into the era of Ibsen, Pinero, and Jones, and his popularity would have waned in the larger cities had he been a finer representative than he was of the old school.

Achievements

• Thomas Wallace Keene was recognized for his performances in contemporary melodramas and Shakespearean tragedies. His most famous role was of Richard III, which he played more than 3000 times. He also worked at various times with such famous actors as Booth, Charlotte Cushman, E. L. Davenport, and Clara Morris.

Personality

Keene's pictures suggest a man oddly resembling, in face and figure, William Jennings Bryan, though his hair was curly and his nose more aquiline. Among his professional workers, he was noted for his kindliness.

Connections

Keene was married to Margaret Creighton of New York. His private life was happy and blameless.

Spouse:

Margaret Creighton

References

• Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Beginnings (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts)
• History of the New York Stage (3 Vol. Set)