sMowatt, Anna Cora Ogden1819╨1870writer and actorBorn on March 5, 1819, to American parents in Bordeaux, France, Anna Ogden came to New York City with her family when she was seven. As a child she exhibited a talent for acting and a precocious interest in Shakespeare, whose plays she devoured before she was ten. In October 1834, at the age of fifteen, she married James Mowatt, a lawyer several years her senior. Under the pseudonym ╥Isabel╙ she published her first book, a verse romance titled Pelayo, or, The Cavern of Covadonga, in 1836. She defended it against critical attacks in Reviewers Reviewed the next year. During 1837╨1840 she was abroad for her health, and from Europe she contributed articles to Godey╒s Lady╒s Book and other magazines. Shortly afterward her husband suffered financial reverses, and in 1841 she determined to pursue a career as an author and actress. She gave a successful series of poetry readings in Boston, New York, and other cities and, under the pseudonym ╥Helen Berkley,╙ wrote for the fashionable magazines. She also produced biographies, several volumes on cooking, needlework, and other domestic topics, and two novels, The Fortune Hunter, 1844, and Evelyn, 1845. Her first successful play, Fashion; or, Life in New York, a social satire written at the suggestion of Epes Sargent and for which she is chiefly remembered, opened in March 1845 at New York╒s Park Theatre. Mowatt made her acting debut in June of that year in The Lady of Lyons at the Park. Her second play, Armand, the Child of the People, was also well received in New York City in 1847, and she later took both plays to England. Her success on the stage, the more remarkable for her complete lack of training or experience, extended to several Shakespearean roles. After four years in Britain and the death of her husband in 1851 she returned for an American tour, but recurring illness forced her from the stage in 1854. Her Autobiography of an Actress was published in the same year. She married William F. Ritchie in June of that year and settled in Richmond, Virginia. She became active in Ann Pamela Cunningham╒s Mount Vernon Ladies╒ Association and became vice-regent for Virginia in 1858. On the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 she went to Europe. Her later books included Mimic Life; or, Before and Behind the Curtain, 1856, Twin Roses 1857, Fairy Fingers, 1865, The Mute Singer, 1866, and The Clergyman╒s Wife and Other Sketches, 1867. She lived mostly in Florence during her last years but died in Twickenham, England, on July 21, 1870. Italian Life and Legends, 1870, appeared posthumously.Photo: Mowatt as ╥Rosalind.╙ Vstyl ` * ! ¬ 5¬ " 5¬ 4 !I ≈ !I !I R !I d !I v 5¬ w !I ╙ !I µ !I Ö !I ½ !I ╖ !I ╜ !I ß !I ■ !I û 5¬ ù !I ╠ !I ▌ !I ² !I !I Ñ !I └ !I ⌡ 5¬ ÷ !I !I < !I D !I N !I U !I b !I j !I y !I à !I ¼ !I
