Mrs Frank Huntley

A Woodburytype portrait of the British actress Mrs Frank Huntley, seen here in the costume in which she played La Frochard in The Two Orphans. Set during the French Revolution, the melodrama, an English translation by N. Hart Jackson of the 1872 French play Les deux orphalines by Adolphe d'Ennery and Eugene Cormon, was first performed at the Royal Olympic Theatre in 1875 and subsequently proved to be a perennial favourite with audiences. It was adapted for the screen many times in the 20th century, most notably by DW Griffith in 1921.

Born Josephine Jane Shalders (or possibly Jane Josephine Shalders) in Southampton, probably in 1828, she was the second daughter of comedian William Charles Shalders, manager of the Southampton Theatre. She followed her father’s profession and when the census was taken in 1851 she was a comedian staying at a boarding house in Bradford. On 3 March 1853 in Halifax she married fellow comedian Francis Walter Saward, known professionally as Frank Huntley (The Era, 7 March 1858).

Initially she continued appearing under her maiden name, Miss Josephine Shalders, but eventually her nom de théâtre became Mrs Frank Huntley

She died in Lambeth on 26 February 1895 (The Stage, 7 March 1895).

Photographer unidentified.