biography
| name: |
Cushman, Charlotte (Saunders)
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| sex:
| female
|
| lived:
| (1816–76)
|
| biography:
| Actress, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. One of the first major native-born US actresses, she began as an opera singer but turned to acting after she overstrained her voice; the vocal damage left her with a husky, veiled quality that she used to great advantage, often playing male roles (including Romeo and Hamlet). By 1842 she was managing as well as starring at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. After moving to England in 1845, she became the toast of the London stage. She spent the next 25 years living in England or Rome, then returned to the USA, where she made a triumphal farewell tour in 1874–5. |
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