Rose Massey (c.1845 in England – 23 July 1883 in New York City) was a 19th-century British stage actress. She was the mother of the actress Blanche Massey.
Biography Rose Mary Massey was born around 1845 in England, daughter of Mary and Robert Massey.
Massey first appeared at the Haymarket Theatre in London in July 1867, playing the role of Mary Meredith in Our American Cousin. Massey had a relationship with the theatrical manager, proprietor and promoter Alexander Henderson (father of writer Effie Adelaide Rowlands and later spouse of burlesque producer Lydia Thompson). That relationship produced a daughter, Ellen Blanche Massey (1868-1929), also an actress.(7 October 1894). Personal and Other Jottings, The Morning Call
Her New York debut was in February 1869, in The Field of the Cloth of Gold at Wood's Museum,Hutton, Lawrence. Curiosities of the American stage, p. 178 (1891) but later gained attention in her 1871 performance as Fatima in Blue Beard at the Covent Garden Theatre.Pascoe, Charles, E. The Dramatic List, p. 259-60 (1880)
Massey played a number of roles opposite actor Henry James Montague, whom she followed to the United States and later sued in 1875 for breach of promise to marry. She claimed to have a son fathered by Montague, and it made a stir when Massey also released "sappy" letters to her from Montague.(7 September 1878). Actor Montague (Obituary), Fort Wayne Daily Sentinel That case ended, however, when Montague died in 1878.Brown, T. Allston. A history of the New York stage, Vol. II, (1903)Gänzl, Kurt. Lydia Thompson, queen of burlesque (2002)The Rialto A Generation Ago, Theatre Magazine (August 1912, p. 58-60)(17 July 1875). Odds and Ends, Otago Witness
Massey died of consumption in New York on July 23, 1883 and is buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
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