Janet Achurch
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Janet Achurch (January 17, 1864 [1]- September 11, 1916) was an English stage actress. She made her London debut in 1883. She played many Shakespearean roles, but is best known as a pioneer of major roles in the works of Ibsen. Perhaps her most notable role was as Nora in A Doll's House. She also produced and starred in Little Eyolf (1896).
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[edit] Background
Born as Janet Sharp on January 17, 1863 in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, Lancashire, her mother died during the birth and she was subsequently raised by her father William Prior Sharp, an insurance agent. James and Mary Achurch, her maternal great-grandparents, had been managers of the Theatre Royal in Manchester. She followed this tradition, which had skipped a generation, when, after being educated privately until 1881, she attended Sarah Thorne's actor's training school in Margate, and used her her mother's maiden name as her professional name.
[edit] Career
Her first appearance on stage was in 1883 at the Olympic theater in London in the farcical Betsy Baker. From 1883 to her retirement in 1913, she appeared in a wide range of roles, in London, touring England, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, India, and Egypt. In 1893, she took over management of the Novelty Theater in London. That year she played one of her most notable roles as Nora in the English premiere of Ibsen's A Doll's House. This enhanced her own fame as well as Ibsen's standing in England. George Bernard Shaw wrote the title role of his play Candida with her in mind and would only allow the play to be performed if she played the title role. This did not took place until 1897 at Her Majesty's Theater. In 1889, during her tour with her actor husband Charles Charrington (whom she married in 1886) in Egypt, she gave birth to a stillborn child in Cairo. Achurch almost died herself during the birth, the pain from which subsequently increased her addiction to morphine.
[edit] Retirement & death
Her last performance was in 1913 as Merete Bery in Wiers-Jenssen's The Witch.[citation needed] Due to exhaustion and illness, she declared her retirement as soon as the production closed.[2] She died of an overdose of "morphine poisoning" on September 11, 1916, aged 52 at Ventnor, Isle of Wight.[3]
[edit] Sources
- Salmon, Eric. Achurch, Janet (1863–1916), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (eds. H.C.G. Matthew and Brian Harrison). Oxford University Press: 2004 (online edition edited by Lawrence Goldman; 2007)
[edit] References
- ^ Some sources online have incorrectly cited 1854 and 1863, but the correct year of birth is 1864
- ^ Biodata
- ^ Ibid.
