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
Marie Lloyd
Music hall artiste. Born Matilda Alice Victoria Wood at 36 Plumber Street, Hoxton. She made her debut at the Eagle Tavern in 1884, using the name Bella Delmere. The following year, she changed her ...
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...
Sam Wanamaker
Actor, director and visionary who recreated Shakespeare's Globe. Born Chicago. In 1952, while working in the UK, he heard that the House Un-American Activities had black-listed him so he decided to...
Philip Astley
Equestrian performer and circus proprietor. Born Newcastle under Lyme. Aged 17 he joined the 15th Light Dragoons where he developed an exceptional ability breaking and riding horses. Discharged as ...
David Garrick
Actor, dramatist and theatre manager. Born Hereford. Left home and travelled to London with Samuel Johnson. As a friend of the Adams brothers he was in 1772, one of the first residents in their new...
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Wells & Campden Charity
Original name was the Wells Charity, named after Chalybeate Well.
National Provincial Bank
Created by Thomas Joplin (1790?–1847) and George Fife Angas (1789 – 1879) as one of the first joint stock banks with a base in London and provincial branches. The London base was at 15 Bishopsgate...
Brixton Black Women's Group
Started by Olive Morris and other women who had been active in the Black Panther Movement. It was formed to address the specific issues faced by black women, and to offer advice and support to thos...
George Clarke
Sculptor. Born Birmingham. Moved to London following the success of his first entry at the Royal Academy in 1821. His work was popular and he was prolific but from 1832 onwards he was short of m...
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