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Madame Celeste

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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MADAME CELESTE (1815-1882), French dancer and actress, was born in Paris on the 16th of August 1815. As a little girl she was a pupil in the ballet class at the Opera. When fifteen, she had an offer from the United States, and made her debut at the Bowery theatre, New York. Returning to England, she appeared at Liverpool as Fenella in Masaniello, and also in London (1831). In 1834 she aroused such enthusiasm in America that her admirers carried her on their shoulders and took the horses out of her carriage in order to pull it themselves. It is even said that President Jackson introduced her to his cabinet as an adopted citizen of the Union. Having made a large fortune, she returned to England in 1837. She now gave up dancing, and appeared as an actress, first at Drury Lane and then at the Haymarket. In 1844 she joined Benjamin Webster in the management of the Adelphi, and afterwards took the sole management of the Lyceum till 1861. She made a third visit to the United States from 1865 to 1868, and retired in 1870. Her favourite part was Miami in Buckstone's Green Bushes. She died in Paris on the 12th of February 1882.