The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Faucit, Helen

FAUCIT, fâ'sĭt, Helen (lady Martin), English actress: b. London, England, 11 Oct 1817; d. Wales, 31 Oct. 1898. In 1851 she was married to Theodore (afterward Sir Theodore) Martin (q.v.). She made her professional début as Julia in the ‘Hunchback’ at Covent Garden in January 1836. She was at once successful, took a leading part in Macready's Shakespearean revivals, in the first representation of Lytton's plays, and in Browning's ‘Blot in the Scutcheon’ and ‘Strafford.’ As an interpreter of Shakespeare's heroines, Juliet, Rosalind, Portia, Beatrice, Imogen, Cordelia and Lady Macbeth, she stood first among the actresses of her time. Some years after her marriage she left the stage, appearing only at rare intervals for public or charitable purposes, as in Beatrice at the opening of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford. In 1885 she published a volume of delightful studies, entitled ‘On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters.’ Her ‘Life,’ by her husband, appeared in 1900.