Jane Tryphoena Stephens (1812? – 15 January 1896) was a British actress who became famous as she became older.

Life

Her first surname is unknown as she sometimes appeared as "Miss Stephens". She had a husband called Joseph Stephens who was a solicitor's clerk. Before she took to the stage in 1840 she ran a tobacconists. She took a variety of roles but it was not until 1854 that she found her niche. She took on "grandmotherly" type roles in a number of productions and was affectionately known as "Granny" Stephens. She finished her career on 9 July 1889 with a benefit programme at the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was d ...

. The committee responsible for promoting the show included R D'Oyly Carte,

George Edwardes George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond. Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...

and C H Hawtrey. Stephens died in

Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of gr ...

in 1896 of bronchitis. She was cremated on 20 January and her ashes were buried in the Actors' Acre in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

in Woking.

Legacy

There is a portrait of "Mrs Stephens" in the National Portrait Gallery by William Bond dating from the early 19th century.Mrs Stephens
National Portrait Gallery, London

References

1812 births 1896 deaths British stage actresses 19th-century British actresses Deaths from bronchitis Burials at Brookwood Cemetery {{UK-actor-stub