Biography

Mary O’Keeffe (1757-1813)

Mary O’Keeffe exemplifies the remarkable talent on display in northern theatres at the end of the eighteenth-century. Mary was the daughter of the actress Alice Mason and Tottenham Heaphy who managed the Cork and Limerick theatres. She was born in Cork in 1757 and performed there from at least the age of eight. Mary married the actor John O’Keeffe in Limerick in 1774 and made her Dublin debut as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Smock Alley Theatre in 1775 and first appeared at London’s Covent Garden Theatre in 1778 also in this role.

It seems likely that Mary had an affair with George Graham in Dublin which resulted in John O’Keeffe permanently moving to London in 1780 where he became arguably the most prolific playwright of the period; producing at least 68 theatre pieces. Mary also travelled to England, performing for Tate Wilkinson‘s company in York in 1785 before joining James Cawdell’s Durham company where she and her partner George Graham were the company’s leading tragedians. She later acted in her friend James Field Stanfield‘s company in Durham, Northumberland and the Borders. Although Mary O’Keeffe performed for northern audiences for over three decades there are very few records of her performances.

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