Jane Cowl (December 14, 1883 â€" June 22, 1950) was an American film
and stage actress and playwright "notorious for playing lachrymose
parts". Actress Jane Russell was named in Cowl's honor.Cowl was born
Jane Bailey in Boston, Massachusetts, to Charles Bailey and Grace
Avery. She attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York
City. And she also took some courses at Columbia University.She made
her Broadway debut in New York City in Sweet Kitty Bellairs in 1903.
Her first leading role was Fanny Perry in 1909 in Leo Ditrichstein's
Is Matrimony a Failure?, produced by David Belasco, and then she
played stock. This was followed by The Gamblers (1910), her first
great success, and by Within the Law (1912), Common Clay (1915), and
other successes (New International Encyclopedia). She was known for
her interpretation of Shakespearean roles, playing Juliet, Cleopatra,
and Viola on Broadway. She made Broadway history by playing Juliet
over 1000 consecutive performances in 1923; critic George Jean Nathan
declared her "not ... the best Juliet that I have seen, but she is by
all odds the most charming". Cowl's affecting performances led her to
be described as having a "voice with a tear." Biographer Charles
Higham admired Cowl's "marvelous bovine eyes and exquisite genteel
catch in the voice ..."In June 1911, Cowl traveled on the maiden
voyage from Southampton of the RMS Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic
which was lost in a famous disaster the following April .
and stage actress and playwright "notorious for playing lachrymose
parts". Actress Jane Russell was named in Cowl's honor.Cowl was born
Jane Bailey in Boston, Massachusetts, to Charles Bailey and Grace
Avery. She attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York
City. And she also took some courses at Columbia University.She made
her Broadway debut in New York City in Sweet Kitty Bellairs in 1903.
Her first leading role was Fanny Perry in 1909 in Leo Ditrichstein's
Is Matrimony a Failure?, produced by David Belasco, and then she
played stock. This was followed by The Gamblers (1910), her first
great success, and by Within the Law (1912), Common Clay (1915), and
other successes (New International Encyclopedia). She was known for
her interpretation of Shakespearean roles, playing Juliet, Cleopatra,
and Viola on Broadway. She made Broadway history by playing Juliet
over 1000 consecutive performances in 1923; critic George Jean Nathan
declared her "not ... the best Juliet that I have seen, but she is by
all odds the most charming". Cowl's affecting performances led her to
be described as having a "voice with a tear." Biographer Charles
Higham admired Cowl's "marvelous bovine eyes and exquisite genteel
catch in the voice ..."In June 1911, Cowl traveled on the maiden
voyage from Southampton of the RMS Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic
which was lost in a famous disaster the following April .
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