(January 10, 1820 - August 31, 1897)

The daughter of theatrical parents, Louisa Lane Drew made her theatrical debut as an infant and was acting regularly soon thereafter. At age seven, she and her mother moved to the New York and Philadelphia stages, where young Louisa Lane showed off her comic talents and Irish brogue; throughout her life, she was also known for her skill in playing men's roles, such as Romeo and Antony. In 1863, she starred as Lady Macbeth opposite John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Lincoln two years later.

In 1850, amidst a theatre tour across the Midwest, Louisa Lane married John Drew. After the new couple performed together in She Would and She Would Not, they began to own and manage the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Long after her husband's death, Louisa Drew continued to run the theatre and to act; in 1880 she starred as Mrs. Malaprop in a tour of Sheridan's The Rivals. She also wrote a brief Autobiographical Sketch which was published posthumously. Louisa Drew, who had one of the longest careers of any actress, was also the matriarch of an extensive theatrical family which carried through both her son John Drew, Jr. and her daughter Georgie, who married Maurice Barrymore.

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Resources

Drew, Louisa Lane. Autobiographical Sketch of Mrs. John Drew. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1899. Google Books. www.books.google.com. 7 July 2008.
Louisa Drew's account of her own life includes descriptions of many performances, as well as photographs of herself and her fellow actors.

"Louisa Lane Drew." Wikipedia. www.wikipedia.org.