Virginia Harned

Short Biography

Born in Boston but raised in England, she returned to America to make her stage debut in Our Boarding House. After touring for several seasons she made her first Broadway appearance in 1890 in A Long Lane. Later that same year she was enlisted by Daniel Frohman for his Lyceum Theatre company, playing opposite E. H. Sothern, whom she eventually married. Harned scored a popular success as the libertine Drusilla Ives in The Dancing Girl (1891), then consolidated her reputation when she played Fanny Haddon in Captain Lettarblair (1892). Perhaps her most memorable assignment came when she created the title role of Trilby (1895). Other noteworthy performances included Julie de Varion in An Enemy to the King (1896); the improvident, doomed Iris (1902); and the Shakespearean Actress in The Light That Lies in a Woman`s Eyes (1903). Her repertory included several classic parts, including Ophelia, which she played to Sothern`s Hamlet, as well as Pauline in The Lady of Lyons and Camille. She continued to perform in both new plays and revivals until her retirement in 1918. One writer described her as a mature actress with “sex, vitality, dignity and beauty.”