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Nellie Farren
Ellen "Nellie" Farren (16 April 1848 – 28 April 1904) was an English actress and singer known for her roles as the "principal boy" in musical burlesques at the Gaiety Theatre in London. For a quarter of a century there, she was "the best-known star of London burlesque".
Born into a theatrical family, Farren began acting as a child. She made her professional adult debut in 1864 and joined the company at London's Olympic Theatre, performing in Shakespeare, contemporary comedies, dramas and musical burlesques. From 1868 to 1892, she performed at the Gaiety Theatre, which specialised in musical burlesque, becoming famous in the male and principal boy roles, which permitted an actress in the Victorian era theatre to show her legs in tights. Farren gained a large following among the theatre's mostly male audience.
Farren created the role of Mercury in Gilbert and Sullivan's first collaboration, Thespis and created or played roles in works by Dion Boucicault, Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, William Congreve and Henry James Byron, among many others. In the 1880s, she created roles in the series of famous Gaiety burlesques with musical scores by Meyer Lutz, often written by Fred Leslie. Some of her most famous of these later roles were the title characters in Little Jack Sheppard and Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué. She also became a co-producer of the Gaiety Theatre.
After Farren suffered an attack of rheumatic fever in 1891, her health forced to retire from the stage in 1892. A gala benefit for her was arranged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1898. It was attended by nearly the entire theatrical community at which the most famous actors of the day performed, and which raised the astonishing sum of £7,000 (equivalent to £985,000 in 2023) for her retirement.
Farren was born in Lancashire to a theatrical family. Her grandfather, William Farren, was a well-known actor. Her father, Henry Farren, and her uncle, William, were both actors. Her mother was Ellen nee Smithson. Farren married actor and stage manager Robert Soutar in 1867, and the couple had two sons, Henry Robert Soutar (1868–1928), an actor who ended his days as a general labourer, and the actor Joseph Farren Soutar (1870–1962).
Her first role was as the young Duke of York in Richard III in 1853 at the Theatre Royal, Exeter. She first appeared on the London stage at the age of seven, at the Victoria Theatre, playing Genie of the Ring in Dick Whittington. Although she played other juvenile singing and acting roles in London and the British provinces, she completed her education. In 1862, she played the Fairy Star in The Rose of Blarney at Sadler's Wells Theatre, receiving good notices, followed by a series of other parts at the Victoria Theatre. One of her last roles there is considered her adult debut, as Ninetta in The Woman in Red in 1864.
Later in 1864, Farren moved to the Olympic Theatre, where she stayed for several years, playing in a number of pieces, including The Hidden Hand by Tom Taylor; My Wife's Bonnet by John Maddison Morton; the burlesques Prince Camaralzaman, or, the Fairies' Revenge and Faust and Marguerite; and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, as the Clown. She also played the title role in Lydia Languish, Charlotte in High Life Below Stairs, Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice, Nan in Good for Nothing by J. B. Buckstone, Jo in Nicholas Nickleby, and Sam Willoughby in The Ticket-of-Leave Man, again earning praise for her comic portrayals. The manager of the Olympic, Horace Wigan, and playwright Tom Taylor, each of whom directed shows at the theatre, taught Farren much about stagecraft and encouraged her to experiment and expand her acting. During this time, she also played roles in other theatres, such as Pert in London Assurance in 1866. In the second half of 1868, she joined the company at the Queen's Theatre, Long Acre, playing, among other things, Nancy Rouse in a F. C. Burnand's burlesque Fowl Play.
Farren began her long tenure at the Gaiety Theatre in December 1868, at the re-opening of the theatre under new management by John Hollingshead, playing Sprightly in On the Cards and the title role in its companion piece, Robert the Devil, by W. S. Gilbert, a burlesque of the opera Robert le Diable. This ran until May 1869. Her husband, Robert Soutar, joined the theatre at the same time and served as an actor, stage manager and writer there. Farren next played the title role in Alfred Thompson's Columbus!, or the Original Pitch in a Merry Key (1869).
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Nellie Farren
Ellen "Nellie" Farren (16 April 1848 – 28 April 1904) was an English actress and singer known for her roles as the "principal boy" in musical burlesques at the Gaiety Theatre in London. For a quarter of a century there, she was "the best-known star of London burlesque".
Born into a theatrical family, Farren began acting as a child. She made her professional adult debut in 1864 and joined the company at London's Olympic Theatre, performing in Shakespeare, contemporary comedies, dramas and musical burlesques. From 1868 to 1892, she performed at the Gaiety Theatre, which specialised in musical burlesque, becoming famous in the male and principal boy roles, which permitted an actress in the Victorian era theatre to show her legs in tights. Farren gained a large following among the theatre's mostly male audience.
Farren created the role of Mercury in Gilbert and Sullivan's first collaboration, Thespis and created or played roles in works by Dion Boucicault, Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, William Congreve and Henry James Byron, among many others. In the 1880s, she created roles in the series of famous Gaiety burlesques with musical scores by Meyer Lutz, often written by Fred Leslie. Some of her most famous of these later roles were the title characters in Little Jack Sheppard and Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué. She also became a co-producer of the Gaiety Theatre.
After Farren suffered an attack of rheumatic fever in 1891, her health forced to retire from the stage in 1892. A gala benefit for her was arranged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1898. It was attended by nearly the entire theatrical community at which the most famous actors of the day performed, and which raised the astonishing sum of £7,000 (equivalent to £985,000 in 2023) for her retirement.
Farren was born in Lancashire to a theatrical family. Her grandfather, William Farren, was a well-known actor. Her father, Henry Farren, and her uncle, William, were both actors. Her mother was Ellen nee Smithson. Farren married actor and stage manager Robert Soutar in 1867, and the couple had two sons, Henry Robert Soutar (1868–1928), an actor who ended his days as a general labourer, and the actor Joseph Farren Soutar (1870–1962).
Her first role was as the young Duke of York in Richard III in 1853 at the Theatre Royal, Exeter. She first appeared on the London stage at the age of seven, at the Victoria Theatre, playing Genie of the Ring in Dick Whittington. Although she played other juvenile singing and acting roles in London and the British provinces, she completed her education. In 1862, she played the Fairy Star in The Rose of Blarney at Sadler's Wells Theatre, receiving good notices, followed by a series of other parts at the Victoria Theatre. One of her last roles there is considered her adult debut, as Ninetta in The Woman in Red in 1864.
Later in 1864, Farren moved to the Olympic Theatre, where she stayed for several years, playing in a number of pieces, including The Hidden Hand by Tom Taylor; My Wife's Bonnet by John Maddison Morton; the burlesques Prince Camaralzaman, or, the Fairies' Revenge and Faust and Marguerite; and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, as the Clown. She also played the title role in Lydia Languish, Charlotte in High Life Below Stairs, Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice, Nan in Good for Nothing by J. B. Buckstone, Jo in Nicholas Nickleby, and Sam Willoughby in The Ticket-of-Leave Man, again earning praise for her comic portrayals. The manager of the Olympic, Horace Wigan, and playwright Tom Taylor, each of whom directed shows at the theatre, taught Farren much about stagecraft and encouraged her to experiment and expand her acting. During this time, she also played roles in other theatres, such as Pert in London Assurance in 1866. In the second half of 1868, she joined the company at the Queen's Theatre, Long Acre, playing, among other things, Nancy Rouse in a F. C. Burnand's burlesque Fowl Play.
Farren began her long tenure at the Gaiety Theatre in December 1868, at the re-opening of the theatre under new management by John Hollingshead, playing Sprightly in On the Cards and the title role in its companion piece, Robert the Devil, by W. S. Gilbert, a burlesque of the opera Robert le Diable. This ran until May 1869. Her husband, Robert Soutar, joined the theatre at the same time and served as an actor, stage manager and writer there. Farren next played the title role in Alfred Thompson's Columbus!, or the Original Pitch in a Merry Key (1869).
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