1. George Stephen Kemble was a successful English theatre manager, actor, and writer, and a member of the famous Kemble family.
22 Facts About Stephen Kemble
1. 2.
Stephen Kemble was described as "the best Sir John Falstaff which the British stage ever saw" though he played title roles in Hamlet and King Lear among others.
3.
Stephen Kemble's niece was the actress and abolitionist Fanny Kemble.
4.
Stephen Kemble was born in Kington, Herefordshire, one of 13 siblings and the second son of Roger Kemble and Sarah "Sally" Ward.
5.
Stephen Kemble's siblings included Charles Kemble, John Philip Kemble and Sarah Siddons.
6.
Stephen Kemble's daughter Frances Kemble was a music composer who was a favourite of Sir Walter Scott.
7.
Similar to his father, Stephen Kemble became a very successful theatre manager of the Eighteenth-Century English stage.
8.
Stephen Kemble managed the original Theatre Royal, Newcastle for fifteen years.
9.
Stephen Kemble brought members of his famous acting family and many other actors out of London to Newcastle.
10.
Stephen Kemble managed other theatres; The Theatre Royal, Glasgow ; Chester; Lancaster; Sheffield ; Berwick-upon-Tweed ; theatres in Northumberland; Alnwick and rural areas on the theatre circuit.
11.
From Newcastle, Stephen Kemble ran the Durham circuit, which included North Shields, Sunderland, South Shields, Stockton and Scarborough and the opening for the Stockton Races at Stockton Racecourse.
12.
Stephen Kemble managed Whitehaven and Paisley, Northampton Theatre, the theatre at Birmingham and Theatre Royal, Dumfries, Portsmouth.
13.
Stephen Kemble supported the careers of many leading actors of the time such as Master Betty, his wife Elizabeth Satchell, his sister Elizabeth Whitlock, George Frederick Cooke, Charlotte Wattell, Harriet Pye Esten, John Edwin, Joseph Munden, Grist, Elizabeth Inchbald, Pauline Hall, Wilson, Charles Incledon, Egan.
14.
In 1783, Stephen Kemble made his debut with his brother John in London.
15.
Stephen Kemble played the title roles in Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and many other roles.
16.
Stephen Kemble published a dramatic play The Northern Inn.
17.
Stephen Kemble published a collection of his writings Odes, Lyrical Ballads and Poems on various occasions.
18.
Stephen Kemble had humour if not wit, and was a pleasant companion and worthy man.
19.
Stephen published a play with his son Henry Kemble entitled Flodden Field based on the Battle of Flodden, which was performed by Thomas S Hamblin.
20.
Stephen Kemble moved from Newcastle to Durham, and lived in retirement after 1806.
21.
In later life, Stephen Kemble took on less responsibilities in management and made only occasional appearances on the stage.
22.
Stephen Kemble was fondly remembered by the natives of Durham, and was honoured with a burial in the Chapel of the Nine Altars in the Durham Cathedral.