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DEATH - OF ADELAIDE NEILSON.
Our direct telegrams convey the intelligence
of the death of the celebrated actress Miss
Adelaide Neilson, who was to visit Australia
shortly. The following is a sketch of her
career :
Lilian Adelaide Neilson was born in 1850, and
made her first appearance on the stage at
the Theatre Royal, Margate, England, at the
age of 15, as Julia in Sheridan Knowles's well.
known play of " The Hunchback," and appeared
in London in 1865 as Juliet, without attracting
much attention. In 1868 she appeared for the
first time as Rosalind in "As You Like It," in
Edinburgh, a character in which she achieved
such great success. In 1869 she appeared as
Juliet at Drury Lane, in which she
stands alone. The Times, in speaking of
her impersonation of Shakespeare's un
happy heroine says-" There is, perhaps, no
actress now on the stage who more perfectly
understands the routine of the part, and cer
tainly there are none who can give greater force
to the scenes in which frequenters of the play
house looked for marked effects." In 1872 Miss
Neilson opened at Booth's Theatre, New York,
in her celebrated character, and was received
with much enthusiasm. During the tour
through the United States and Canada, ehe ap
peared in the following characters in addition
to Juliet, viz.-Beatrice, in " Much Ado about
Nothing;" Pauline, in the "Lady of Lyons;"
Lady Teazle, in "The School for Scandal;"
Julia, in " The Hunchback;" and Isabella, in
"Measure for Measure." Altogether her career
in America was one of extraordinary success.
Miss Neilson re-appeared in London in January,
1876, and during the season played Juliet, Rosa
lind, Anna Boleyn (on the occasion of the first
performance of Tom Taylor's play of that title),
Julia, in "The Hunchback," and Isabella, in
"Measure for Measure." The latter play had
not been performed in London for nearly a
quarter of a century, and Miss Neilson's imper.
sonation of Isabella was another marked suc
cess. In 1877 she again visited the United
States, and played assason of eight months. On
her return to London she again appeared at the
Haymarket Theatre and afterwards at the
Adelphi, in her original part of "Amy Robsart"
in Andrew Halliday's well-known drama. In
October, last year, she left for America, where
she has been performing with immense success
ever since. Miss Neilson had many qualifica.
tions for an actress. She had a handsome pro
sencp, a beautiful and expressive face, a most
harmonious voice, and an artistic command of
elocution. Her career has been a remarkably
successful one, in America especially. Since
her return to America, in October last, her re
ceipts have been about £20,000. No wonder,
then, she was reported worth a million dollars
by the American papers. When the last mail
left she was playing a four weeks' engagement
in San Francisco, and once or twice through
illness had been unable to perform. The an
nouncement of her death will be received with
regret in the colonies, more especially as she
was to. visit Australia in a couple of months
and perform at Melbourne during the Exhibi
tion.
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