Kean, Edmund
Kean, Edmund (1787/9–1833),English actor, who pre-eminently gave expression to Romanticism on the stage. Kean's parentage and early life are cloaked in mystery. Born and brought up in London, he was evidently something of an infant prodigy, becoming a proficient singer, dancer, fencer, acrobat, and mime. He performed on the legitimate stage as Prince Arthur at Drury Lane (1801), but, save for appearances—Rosencrantz, Polonius, and First Gravedigger—at the Haymarket (1806), spent the next thirteen years in the provinces, including York where he was a youthful Hamlet (1802). Kean resisted the temptation of making his London debut prematurely, but when he played Shylock at Drury Lane on 26 January 1814, he caused a sensation. The Thames was frozen and the vast (3,060) auditorium less than a third full, but from his first appearance the small, swarthy actor electrified the audience. Instead of the red-haired, unkempt, conventional Jew,...
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