Emma Waller

Who was Emma Waller?

Emma Waller was an English actress who achieved fame in America.

Waller made her first appearance at Drury Lane in 1856 as Pauline in The Lady of Lyons. Earlier, she had acted in provincial theatres, and there is a record of her appearance at Melbourne, in 1855, with Gustavus Vaughan Brooke, in Macbeth. On October 19, 1857 she appeared in Philadelphia, playing Ophelia, and on April 5, 1858, she debuted on the New York Stage, acting with her husband, at the old Broadway Theatre, as the Duchess in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi — a version of that play having been made for her use by her friend Richard Hengist Horne. After that time, during several seasons, she made starring tours of the country, and she was received with general favor. During several seasons Mrs, Waller was absent from New York, but on December 27, 1869, she made a brilliant reentrance, appearing at Booth's Theatre as Meg Merrilies, in a revival of Guy Mannering Her later years were, in part, devoted to starring tours, in part to theatrical management, and in part to teaching.

Mrs. Waller's characteristic, best, and most admirable performances were those of Lady Macbeth, Meg Merrilies, and the Duchess of Malfi, but she also played male characters, and her impersonations of Hamlet and Iago are remembered as expert. She was a woman of stately presence; her countenance was expressive; she possessed dark, piercing eyes, a pallid complexion, and a voice of unusual depth and compass; her temperament was, in the highest degree, emotional; and, whether in repose or movement, her demeanor was impressively indicative of a self-centred mind, deep feeling perfectly controlled, and great physical power. She died in New York on February 28, 1899, at the age of eighty.