Louisa Freear (26 November 1871 – 23 March 1939) was an English actress and comedienne.
Biography
She was born in
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...
, London, and was part of the Freear theatrical family; her parents were actor Henry Butler Freear and Mary Jane Freear ( Burke), a vocalist. Her brother Walter Freear was an actor, dancer and comedian, and brother Alfred worked as a musician.
Described as "vital and diminutive",
[Harold Scott, ''The Early Doors: Origins of the Music Hall'', London, 1946, p. 210] she performed the role Flo Honeydew in ''
The Lady Slavey'' (1894) and
Puck in
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
's lavish 1900 production of ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
''. She was also a success in
George Dance's comic opera, ''
A Chinese Honeymoon
''A Chinese Honeymoon'' is a musical comedy in two acts by George Dance, with music by Howard Talbot and additional music by Ivan Caryll and others, and additional lyrics by Harry Greenbank and others. One song that originated in the show was ...
'', in 1901.
[
In 1912, she married Charles Shepherd. She died at her home London on 23 March 1939, and was buried at Brookwood Cemetery.]
References
External links
*
Images at National Portrait Gallery
1939 deaths
1871 births
20th-century English actresses
Burials at Brookwood Cemetery
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