Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Hoey, Josephine

HOEY, Josephine, actress, b. in Liverpool, England, in June, 1824. She is the eldest of four sisters, whose maiden names were Shaw, and together with them and her brother began her public life as a ballad-singer in various museums. After her marriage with William H. Russell in 1839, she appeared in small parts at the National theatre in New York, and thereafter became a stock actress in other places. In 1849 Mrs. Russell was connected with Burton's Chambers street theatre, and from 1854 was a conspicuous member of Wallack's theatre, New York. During a brief interval in 1857 she was also seen at the Walnut street theatre in Philadelphia. Her last performances were at Wallack's theatre. In 1847 Mrs. Russell was divorced from her husband, and two years later she married John Hoey, manager of Adams express company, New York city. Although her manner was somewhat cold and artificial, she was popular in high-comedy parts.