Roselle Knott

by Stan Nowak
This article was first published in the Dundas Star News, September, 2004. Reproduced with permission of the author.

The play was going well, and the audience was enjoying it. The smoky stage was particularly effective—except that it wasn't part of the play. Smoke was billowing from behind the stage, but the leading lady assured the audience that all was under control and continued with her performance. Although the theatre was filling with smoke, hardly anyone left, and by play's end, the fire was doused. The next day in Logansport, Indiana, the play "Alice Sit-by-the-Fire", received great acclaim, as did the star, Roselle Knott, whose coolness had averted panic during a potentially perilous situation.

Roselle Knott was born Agnes Roselle (some sources say Victoria Roszel) in Dundas on March 19, 1865 and began her theatrical career with the amateur Dundas Dramatic Club. In 1884, she married Edward Knott, a fellow actor of considerable repute, and together they played to marked success for twelve years until January 1896, when Edward would die tragically as the result of a lacrosse accident. They had three children together: Ivey, who died in infancy in 1885, daughter Viola, who also became an actress, and a son Thomas.

Roselle made her professional debut in 1887 in the old Hamilton Academy of Music. As a leading lady, she earned unstinted praise for her performance in Steele McKay's "Paul Kauver", and later as "The Empress Josephine". But greater acclaim awaited her south of the border. In 1893, she made her New York debut playing in "As You Like It", but became the toast of the town later that same in year in "Quo Vadis", where she played Lydia for three years running in the Empire Theater. Successful tours later followed in Chicago and Boston.

Roselle joined the Mansfield Company and starred in leading roles in "Parisian Romance" and "Beau Brummel"and became the highest-paid stage performer of the time. But it was in 1902–03 as Mary Tudor in "When Knighthood Was In Flower" that she won her greatest fame. The author, Charles Major, later said to her, "You stepped right out of my book".

Roselle returned to live in Hamilton in 1904, and on June 28,1905, she saved herself and her manager from a near-drowning in the Hamilton Bay 'by her presence of mind and rare coolness'. In March 1906, she played the real-life heroine once again during that theatre fire in Logansport.

Ill health forced her into retirement from the stage in 1907. It was also around this time that Roselle married promoter Ernest Shipman, with whose company she had worked. By the time they finally divorced in 1912, there was no love lost between the two. Later, both their obituaries never acknowledged one being wed to the other.

By 1911, a healthy Roselle had returned to the stage playing Portia in "The Merchant of Venice" with Robert Mantell's company. She also played Lady Macbeth, Katherine in "The Taming of The Shrew", Juliet and many other great Shakespearean roles.

In 1915, Roselle returned to Hamilton and directed plays for the Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire, of which she was a lifetime member, but in 1916, she moved to New York City, founding a very successful theatre company which toured major cities of the United States.

Roselle retired from acting in 1936 and opened an acting studio in New York to tutor promising young talents. Her studio produced such stars like Robert Montgomery and Miriam Hopkins. But a year later, another serious illness forced her to close up shop, and she moved back to Hamilton. In 1945, Roselle suffered an illness from which she never fully recovered, and she died early in 1948.

For almost fifty years, this lady from Dundas thrilled North American audiences from the 1880s well into the 20th century. Her passionate dramatic performances assured her status as a bright light during the golden age of live theatre.

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