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Ellen Terry inspired extravagant feeling. George Bernard Shaw gallantly declared that 'every famous man of the 19th century- provided he were a playgoer- has been in love with Ellen Terry.' Adored by both the public and her colleagues alike Terry was a woman of great charm and generosity who also possessed a fiercely independent spirit allied to a resolute capacity for hard work. At her house in Smallhythe, Kent her legacy endures; the house is now a memorial museum.
Ellen was born in 1847 in Coventry, Warwickshire, 'Shakespeare's own county' as she happily recalled in her 1908 memoirs. Her parents were successful strolling players who expected their children to follow in their footsteps and indeed Terry's earliest memories revolved around the theatre. Ellen never felt that her early years spent exclusively in the theatre robbed her of a normal childhood, remembering herself as ' a very strong, happy and healthy child.'
From the first an actor's life couldn't be classed as conventional; their often rootless existence necessitated a certain degree of isolation but in compensation their world was tightly knit with family and dynastic ties paramount. In her mid teens Ellen joined her actress sister Kate at a stock company in Bristol, here learning the importance of 'usefulness', a quality she highly prized. She also had her first encounter with Edward Godwin who was to prove very influential in her life. An associate of William Morris and close friend of Whistler, Godwin introduced Ellen to a new, aesthetic world. 'For the first time I began to appreciate beauty...to feel the splendour of things.' It was a brief but momentous encounter as it marked a new chapter in Ellen's life; one where she, immersed in the theatre since infancy would become sharply aware of the cultured, bohemian world that lay outside her experience.
A short while later Ellen and her sister were invited to a portrait sitting at the studio of G F Watts near Hyde Park. The artist was smitten by Ellen and proposed marriage shortly after; she accepted aware that her parents would like her firmly settled. To modern eyes the union between a sixteen year old and a man already elderly for his 46 years seemed destined for what Ellen herself would later term ' a natural catastrophe.' But in 1864 there was little indication of trouble. Watts laboured under the delusion that he was marrying her as a moral duty, freeing her from the pernicious evils of the stage and giving him a companion. Their marriage lasted ten months. In January 1865 Ellen was thunderstruck when she was effectively sent home. Although this marked a bleak period, she bore Watts no grudge and when years later he sought her forgiveness, she readily gave it.
Back on the scene was her old confidant Edward Godwin- the two now fell deeply in love. In 1868 Ellen ran away with him leaving no explanation for her departure. Her parents feared her dead until she returned to reassure them. Ellen was passionately in love and still legally married to Watts; she knew 'living in sin' with Godwin cast a shadow on her family. Years ater she asserted, 'I have the simplest faith that absolute devotion to another human being means the greatest happiness.' She loved her new country life and her first child Edith was born in 1869; a son Teddy followed in 1872. Motherhood became her principal focus; this idyll lasted 6 years. By the mid 1870's financial difficulties loomed and friction began to splinter the bond between her and Godwin.
Offerd a return to the stage by an old family friend, Ellen took it and rented a flat in London. While playing Portia in 1875, Godwin finally walked out on her, yet somehow Ellen was able to put the pain on hold and deliver her first great performance; the production closed quickly but she was much acclaimed. In the next few years her career blossomed and she remarried, wanting to give her children respectability. It was in 1878 that Ellen received a calling card that would change her life. Henry Irving, after many years of struggle, had taken over the Lyceum theatre and invited her to join as his leading lady; she'd been much impressed by his performances and readily agreed. Over the next 24 years theirs was to become one of theatre's most celebrated partnerships. With Irving Ellen scored many triumphs. A young Oscar Wilde saw her Portia and composed a sonnet in her honour.
While her career was at its zenith her personal life wasn't so happy. Separated from Kelly she was very close to Irving but he wasn't free to marry; whether the two were lovers is debatable but they were certainly inseparable. These were good years for Ellen, not unalloyed happiness but satisfaction gained from professional prestige and public popularity.
Bad health forced Irving to release the theatre at the close of the century and it was taken over by a syndicate. Although the two by now weren't quite so intimate Ellen and Irving kept in touch and she was heartbroken by his death a few years later.
Ellen continued to act until 1925; when celebrating her stage jubilee in 1906 she was still an active member of the profession. She remarried to a young American but it didn't last and they parted amicably after two years. As the years rolled by, Ellen sought a country retreat; through her life she'd kept country cottages, which gave escape from London life but she now wanted a more permanent haven. Years earlier she'd spied a farmhouse at Smallhythe and impetuously declared, 'this is where I'd like to live and die.' One day a postcard arrived saying 'house for sale' and a cherished dream came to fruition. Built in the 16th century, the house struck a chord with her. Times critic E V Lucas said, ' there was a wildness in her nature that assorted well with this brave old house.' It brought her peace.
When she died on 21 July 1928 aged 81, Ellen had enjoyed a stellar career for over 50 years, forged an unconventional and independent identity and brought her children up singlehandedly. Her great popularity allowed an essentially unorthodox personality to be absorbed into the mainstream; even Queen Alexandra sent her birthday telegrams! Her appeal derived largely from the immense vivacity of her temperament which was inseperable from private as well as professional life. Quite simply, ' Home and theatre, legacy and destiny were one.'
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