1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Stirling, Mary Anne

6212191911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 25 — Stirling, Mary Anne

STIRLING, MARY ANNE [Fanny] (1815-1895), English actress, was born in London, the daughter of a Captain Kehl. After soine experience at outlying theatres, she appeared in London in 1836. Having been successful as Celia in As You Like It and Sophia in The Road to Ruin, Macready gave her an opportunity to play Cordelia to his Lear, and Madeline Weir to his James V. in the Rev. James White's King of the Commons. In 1852 she created Peg Woffington in Reade and Taylor's Masks and Faces. Meanwhile she had married Edward Stirling (d. 1894), an actor, manager and dramatic author. In later years Mrs Stirling gained a new popularity as the nurse in Irving's presentation (1882) of Romeo and Juliet, and again (1884) with Mary Anderson; and she was the Martha in Irving's production of Faust (1885). She died on the 30th of December 1895, having in the previous year married Sir Charles Hutton Gregory (1817-1898).