Julia Marlowe

Born in Caldbeck, England, August 17, 1865, Julia Marlowe was one of our children born to Sarah Hodgson and John Frost. The family migrated to America when she was five and settled first on a farm in Kansas, moving later to Cincinnati, where she was educated. She first appeared on the stage as a child in 1878 under the name of Fanny Brough. Her real name was Sarah Frances Frost. She took the name Julia Marlow from the character Julia she played in The Hunchback and Christopher Marlow. She studied with Ada Dow and first starred on Broadway on October 20, 1887, in Ingomar. In 1894 she married Robert Taber, her leading man at the Star Theatre. They appeared as joint stars for a few seasons, but disagreements led to divorce in 1900. In 1904 she joined forces with E.H. Sothern and co-starred with him on and off the stage. Their marriage lasted from 1911 until his death in 1933. While she appeared in other plays such as When Knighthood Was In Flower, Barbara Frietche, Gloria, Countess Valeska and Jeanne D'Arc, her greatest fame was as a Shakespearean actress, and she probably acted in the Bard's plays a greater number of times than any other actress. She retired from the stage in 1924 and went into virtual seclusion after her husband died. She lived the last seventeen years of her life at the Plaza Hotel, New York and died there at the age of 85 on November 12, 1950. She was a well rounded, beautiful woman, with soft brown hair, expressive brown eyes and a cleft in her chin. She had a musical voice, a magnetic charm, and a knack for remembering names and faces. She liked to cook and read, raise cocker spaniels and garden lilies of the valley. In 1929 the American Academy of the Arts and Letters awarded her a gold medal for her diction. Columbia University honored her with a Doctor of Letters degree in 1943.