Roselle Knott
A white woman in profile, wearing a tiara and veil, with an off-the-shoulder gown trimmed in lace and pears, and a strand of pearls or beads.
Roselle Knott, photographed in 1905 by the Otto Sarony Company.
Born
Agnes Jane Roselle

March 19, 1865
Hamilton, Canada West
DiedJanuary 28, 1948
Hamilton, Ontario
Other namesAgnes Jane Shipman
OccupationActress

Roselle Knott (born Agnes Roselle; March 19, 1865 – January 28, 1948), was a Canadian actress.

Early life

Agnes Roselle was born in Ancaster, Hamilton, Canada West, the daughter of Abraham Rossell and Agnes Jane McDavid Rossell. (Birth years vary across sources, from 1863 to 1870.)[1][2]

Career

1906 poster announcing an appearance by Roselle Knott. The background is red, the lettering is white; illustrations include comedy/tragedy masks, and lions.
1906 poster announcing an appearance by Roselle Knott.

Roselle Knott began her stage career in Canada,[3] at the Hamilton Academy of Music. In 1893 she debuted in New York, in a production of Shakespeare's As You Like It. She also appeared that year in an all-women cast of As You Like It, as a member of the Women's Professional League.[4] In 1900, she starred in Quo Vadis at the Empire Theatre,[5] and on tour in Chicago and Boston. Knott toured with Richard Mansfield's company in A Parisian Romance and Beau Brummel. She succeeded Julia Marlowe in the role of Mary Tudor in When Knighthood was in Flower by Charles Major, from 1902 to 1903.[6] In 1906, she played the title role in The Duchess of Devonshire, written for her by Elizabeth Johnson Ward Doremus.[1][7]

Knott was on stage in Logansport, Indiana in 1906, appearing in Alice Sit-by-the-Fire by James Barrie, when a fire began in the backstage. She was credited with calmly continuing her performance to prevent a panic, and no audience members died.[8]

Knott retired from the stage in 1907, after a tour of Australia with her second husband's company.[9] However, she was back to acting by 1911, playing older Shakespearean roles, including Lady Macbeth. In 1912 she toured North America in The Awakening of Helena Richie,[10] and reportedly set off "a sort of Roselle Knott epidemic", as the name Roselle was given to new babies in the cities she visited: "I like the name myself, and do not wonder that mothers give it to their girl babies," she told 1912 newspaper.[11]

She directed plays in Hamilton, and moved to New York City to start her own company in 1916. Knott retired again from acting in 1936, but after that taught acting in New York City. Among her students were Robert Montgomery and Miriam Hopkins.[8]

Personal life

Agnes Roselle married actor Thomas Knott in 1884. They had three children: Ivey, Viola, and Thomas Jr. Ivey died in infancy in 1885. Thomas Knott Sr. died in a sports accident in 1896. She married again in 1907, to theatrical producer Ernest George Montague Shipman. They divorced in 1912; he married young actress Nell Shipman soon after.[12][13] Roselle Knott died in 1948, aged 82 years, in Hamilton.[14] One of the many babies named for Roselle was her granddaughter, Roselle Heaps DeCarli (1930–2002).[15]

References

  1. 1 2 Browne, Walter; Austin, Frederick Arnold (1906). Who's who on the Stage: The Dramatic Reference Book and Biographical Dictionary of the Theatre, Containing Records of the Careers of Actors, Actresses, Managers and Playwrights of the American Stage. W. Browne & F. A. Austin. p. 146.
  2. ↑ Hanaford, Harry Prescott; Hines, Dixie (1914). Who's who in Music and Drama: An Encyclopedia of Biography of Notable Men and Women in Music and the Drama. H.P. Hanaford. pp. 185–186.
  3. ↑ Burn, Shirley (September 1, 1909). "Canada and the Drama". Maclean's. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  4. ↑ Weeks, Lyman Horace (January 1896). "Some Women in Doublet and Hose". Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. 57: 94.
  5. ↑ Brown, Thomas Allston (1903-01-01). A history of the New York stage from the first performance in 1732 to 1901. Dalcassian Publishing Company. pp. 349, 611.
  6. ↑ Keightley, Mabel Shambleau (November 1906). "Roselle Knott, the Marlowe of the West". Theatre Magazine. 6: 307–308.
  7. ↑ "Roselle Knott in The Duchess of Devonshire at Russell Theater". The Ottawa Citizen. 1906-10-23. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-06-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 Nowak, Stan (2016-01-30). "Roselle Knott". Tales from the Vault. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  9. ↑ The Burr McIntosh Monthly. Burr McIntosh Publishing Company. 1906.
  10. ↑ "Portland Dramatic Critic Likes Roselle Knott". Albany Democrat. 1912-09-20. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-06-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Mayo Methot, with Roselle Knott in 'The Awakening of Helen Ritchie'". Statesman Journal. 1912-09-15. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-06-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Roselle Knott No Longer Tied". The Washington Herald. 1912-07-08. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-06-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Gets Divorce But Refuses to Hear Accused's Name". Buffalo Courier. 1912-07-08. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-06-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Agnes Roselle Knott". Hartford Courant. 1948-01-29. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-06-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Roselle deCarli". The Hartford Courant. January 25, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
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