Jane Stephens (actress)

Jane Tryphoena Stephens
Jane 'Grannie' Stephens by William Bond
Born 1812?
Died 15 January 1896
Clapham Common
Nationality British

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

Life

Stephens' grave in Brookwood Cemetery

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. She finished her career on 9 July 1889 at the Shaftesbury Theatre.[1]

Stephens died in Clapham Common in 1896 of bronchitis and was buried in the Actors' Acre in Brookwood Cemetery in Woking.

Legacy

There is a portrait of "Mrs Stephens" in the National Portrait Gallery by William Bond dating from the early 19th century.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Knight, Joseph; Gilliland, Jean (2004). "Stephens, Jane Tryphoena". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26386. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ↑ Mrs Stephens, National Portrait Gallery, London


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