Born in Coventry. From an acting family her stage career started at age 8. When 17 she retired from the stage to marry artist G.F. Watts, 30 years her senior. Her desire for the stage was greater than that for her husband and they separated after less than a year. She disappeared and her father misidentified a body recovered from the Thames as hers. She resurfaced to reveal that she was, aged 20, having a happy affair with the architect-designer Edward W. Godwin, which produced two children. She went on to have two more marriages, each to actors (Irving and an American 30 years her junior), but her greatest partnership was professional, with the actor/manager Henry Irving. Died at her home in Kent, Smallhythe, which is now a museum. John Gielgud was her great-nephew.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Ellen Terry
Commemorated ati
Queen's Theatre - Long Acre
Queen's Theatre The old Queen's Theatre occupied this site for just eleven y...
Other Subjects
Dame Judi Dench, CH
Actor. Born Judith Olivia Dench in Heworth, York. Made her stage debut with the Old Vic company in 1957. Over the decades, she has performed with the Royal Shakespeare and the National Theatre comp...
William Shakespeare
Born and died in Stratford-upon-Avon. His birth date is usually given as the 23rd, the same date as his death, but all that is actually known is that he was baptised 3 days later, on the 26th. Even...
Brixton Theatre
Theatre designed by Frank Matcham. It had a capacity of 1,504, and was home to plays, small touring productions, and Christmas pantomimes. It was renamed the Melville Theatre in 1940, but was destr...
Duchess Theatre
The Duchess Theatre began a distinguished career as a home for both drama and comedy when it opened with the war play "Tunnel Trench" in 1929. Prominent productions have included the 1936 London d...
Jimmy Winston
Actor and musician. He was in the original line-up of Small Faces but left after a clash of personalities with the other group members. He went on to an acting career, appearing on stage in the mus...