KEENE, LAURA (c. 1820–1873), Anglo-American actress and manager, whose real name was Mary Moss, was born in England. In 1851, in London, she was playing Pauline in The Lady of Lyons. She made her first appearance in New York on the 20th of September 1852, on her way to Australia. She returned in 1855 and till 1863 managed Laura Keene’s theatre, in which was produced, in 1858, Our American Cousin. It was her company that was playing at Ford’s theatre, Washington, on the night of Lincoln’s assassination. Miss Keene was a successful melodramatic actress, and an admirable manager. She died at Montclair, New Jersey, on the 4th of November 1873.
See John Creahan’s Life of Laura Keene (1897).