Laura Keene

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Laura Keene (1826 – November 4, 1873) was an Anglo-American actress and manager, whose real name was Mary Frances Moss. She was a niece of the British actress Elizabeth Yates.

She was born in Winchester, England. She married, in 1844, Henry Wellington Taylor, by whom she had two children, Emma Elija and Clara Stella, before her husband abandoned the family.

In 1851, in London, she was playing Pauline in The Lady of Lyons. She made her first appearance in New York on September 20, 1852, on her way to Australia. She returned in 1855 and managed Laura Keene's Theatre until 1863, in which was produced, in 1859, Our American Cousin. It was her company that was playing at Ford's Theatre, Washington, on the night of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Keene was a successful melodramatic actress, and an admirable manager. She died at Montclair, New Jersey.