Tempest, Marie

1862-

 

Actress and light opera singer; born in London. Her father died when she was a child, and she was educated in the Ursuline Convent at Thildonck, Belgium. She studied music in Paris and afterwards at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where Manual Garcia, then more than eighty years old, took the liveliest interest in her, and where in eighteen months, she won medals in bronze, silver and gold. She studied with Signor Randegger and in 1886 made her debut in the London Comedy Theatre in Boccaccio. She sang in The Fay o' Fire, at the Opera Comique in Paris, then returned to London to sing at the Comedy Theatre. Her next engagement was at Drury Lane. She has appeared at the Prince of Wales, where she played the title role in Dorothy most successfully. She sang in Doris, and The Red Huzzar and appeared in oratorio and concert in London. She came to America in 1890 and was immediately successful here, her greatest success being in The Fencing Master. She returned to London and forsook the comic opera for legitimate comedy in 1900, appearing as Nell Gwynn in English Nell and also in Becky Sharpe. In 1903 she appeared in the Marriage of Kitty, adapted from the French. In 1906 she played the Freedom of Susanne in London. Her personality is dainty and charming and her charm of acting is largely responsible for her success.