Henry Kemble

Who was Henry Kemble?

Henry Kemble was a British actor. A member of the famed Kemble family, he was the grandson of Charles Kemble.

He was born in London, the son of Henry Kemble, a captain of the 37th Foot, and educated at Maze Hill School Greenwich, King's College School and King's College London.

In 1865 he took a post in the privy council office, but spent much of his time in amateur theatre, before making his professional début at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, on 7 October 1867. After a year or so as a junior member of the company there, he took old men and character parts in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Scarborough and Newcastle upon Tyne.

On 29 August 1874 he made his first appearance in London at Drury Lane as Tony Foster in Andrew Halliday's Amy Robsart and was the original Philip of France in the same author's Richard Coeur de Lion. He then took the part of Dr Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor before joining John Hare's company at the Royal Court Theatre in 1875, where he played Dr Penguin in J. Palgrave Simpson's A Scrap of Paper.