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
Sir Bruce Forsyth
TV presenter and all-round entertainer. Born Edmonton. Sunday Night at the London Palladium, The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right, The Price Is Right, Strictly Come Dancing - the shows just...
Fanny Kemble
Actress. Born Newman Street. 1830 a witness at the death of Huskisson. 1832 travelled to America with her father and wrote about her experiences there. Married an American who inherited a fortune i...
Dame Barbara Windsor
Actor. Born Barabara Ann Deeks in Shoreditch. She made her west end debut in 1952, before joining Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. In the cinema she was a regular in the 'Carry On' series, appea...
D'Oyly Carte family
Richard D'Oyly Carte founded the business. Married Helen. Their son Rupert inherited the business and passed it on to his daughter, Bridget.
John Fawcett
Actor and playwright. Born London. Worked at Covent Garden Theatre. Died Southampton.