Frederick Kerr (born Frederick Grinham Keen, 11 October 1858 – 3 May 1933) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

actor who appeared on stage in both

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and in British and American films; he also worked as a major theatrical manager in London.

Early life

Frederick Kerr was born Frederick Grinham Keen on 11 October 1858 in

, the elder son of Grinham Keen, a solicitor. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

. After graduating from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1880, he enrolled at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

with the intention of becoming a barrister, but left shortly afterwards to pursue a career as an actor.http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2017c.pl?sur=Keen&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=&sye=1877&eye=1880&col=all&maxcount=50 "FRED—THE KERRS—GEOFFREY" New York Times Drama/Music/Fashion/Screen, 7 November 1920, page 88 (available online at th
New York Times archive
/ref>

Theatre career

He went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1880 and worked as a sketch artist, when sheer chance turned him into an actor. He was living in a boarding house on 7th Avenue, where a number of theatrical people also lived, among them

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

, who eventually became his manager. Osmond Tearle, an actor living there, heard from his own producer that an Englishman was needed for a production of ''

The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sna ...

''. Tearle recruited Frederick, who got the part in January 1882 (which is also likely the moment he took the stage surname of "Kerr"). He appeared in several more plays in New York City that year, but left for Britain to appear in a London play in December 1882, after which he joined the company at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

managed by John Clayton and

Arthur Cecil Arthur Cecil Blunt (1 June 1843 – 16 April 1896), better known as Arthur Cecil, was an English actor, comedian, playwright and theatre manager. He is probably best remembered for playing the role of Box in the long-running production of ''Cox a ...

. Over the next fifty years, he travelled back and forth across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

several times for theatrical work both in New York City and in London. Kerr became actor-manager of the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

in London in 1895 and later managed the Royal Court Theatre. He starred in ''Public Opinion'' at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

in 1905 and also as the titular pirate in

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

's ''

Captain Brassbound's Conversion ''Captain Brassbound's Conversion'' (1900) is a play by G. Bernard Shaw. It was published in Shaw's 1901 collection '' Three Plays for Puritans'' (together with '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' and '' The Devil's Disciple''). The first American product ...

'' at the Court Theatre in 1906.

Film career

In addition to his stage career, Kerr also appeared in 19 films between

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

and

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

. He is best known as the old Baron Frankenstein in ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...

'' (1931).

Filmography

Writing career

His memoirs were published in 1930 under the title ''Recollections of a Defective Memory''.

Personal life and death

Kerr married Lucy Houghton Dowson (b. 1864) in April 1894. They had three children: a son, Geoffrey Kemble Grinham Keen (1895–1971) who acted under the stage name

Geoffrey Kerr Geoffrey Kerr (born Geoffrey Kemble Grinham Keen; 26 January 1895 – 1 July 1971) was a British stage and film actor and writer during the middle of the 20th century. Early life Geoffrey Kemble Grinham Keen was born on 26 January 1895, in Lond ...

; and two daughters, Lucy Joyce Gunning Keen (b. 1897) who married James Boswell Talbot, 3rd Baron Talbot de Malahide, and Frances Mary Keen (1904–1942), who was an actor and writer using the name

Molly Kerr Molly Kerr (28 May 1904 – 31 May 1942) was an actor, producer and playwright who was the first person to play the role of Bunty Mainwaring in Noël Coward, Noël Coward's play ''The Vortex''. Early life Kerr was born Frances Keen on 28 May 1 ...

. His grandson was actor John Kerr. Kerr was a heavy smoker and suffered from

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

in his later years. He died from the consequences of an earlier

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in a nursing home in London on 2 May 1933 at the age of 74.Daily News (London) ''Fred Kerr Dead'', 3rd May 1933, p. 9 His interment was at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Frederick 1858 births 1933 deaths 19th-century English male actors 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English non-fiction writers English male film actors English male silent film actors English male stage actors English memoirists People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Male actors from London Deaths from lung cancer