{{short description|American actress (1881–1945)}} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Doris Keane | image = Doris Keane, stage actress (SAYRE 4823).jpg | caption = Keane in 1925 | birth_date = {{birth date|1881|12|12}} | birth_place = [[St. Joseph, Michigan]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1945|11|25|1881|12|12}} | death_place = [[New York City]], U.S. | resting_place = Tower Hill Cemetery, Edgartown Dukes County Massachusetts{{Citation needed |date=April 2021}} | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1903–1925 | spouse = {{Marriage|[[Basil Sydney]]|1918|1925|end=divorced}} | children = 1 }}
'''Doris Keane''' (December 12, 1881 – November 25, 1945)<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news |title=Doris Keane, star of 'Romance,' 64 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/107081678 |access-date=April 15, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=November 26, 1945 |page=21|id={{ProQuest|107081678}} }}</ref> was an American actress, primarily in live theatre. She played the lead role in Edwaed Sheldon's "[[Romance]]" for more than five years, in both the United States, London and Europe, and also in film.
==Early life and family== Keane was born in Michigan to Joseph Keane and Florence Winter. She was educated privately in Chicago, New York, Paris, and Rome and at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.<ref name=nytobit/>
==Career== Her first professional role was in ''Whitewashing Julia'' in 1903. This was a small role, but she went on to play leading roles in ''The Happy Marriage'' in 1909 and ''The Lights o' London'' in 1911.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Metropolitan|magazine=Metropolitan|publisher=Metropolitan Magazine Company|edition=34}}</ref>
In 1913, she played Margherita Cavallini in [[Edward Sheldon]]'s ''[[Romance (Sheldon play)|Romance]]''. Her leading man in this long-running play was [[William Courtenay (actor)|William Courtenay]], who played the part of a priest. Sheldon originally had offered the male lead to his friend [[John Barrymore]], but Barrymore turned it down, preferring to continue to perform comedies. Sheldon reportedly fell in love with Keane and yearned for her all his life.
She played the part of Cavallini in the United States and Europe, particularly with long runs in London, for the next five years. She returned to it in revivals that were produced regularly during the 1920s.{{Citation needed |date=April 2021}}
In 1918 at the Lyric Theatre, London, Keane was the star of ''Roxana'', a comedy by [[Avery Hopwood]]. She played the role of Roxana Clayton opposite a younger English actor, [[Basil Sydney]]. <ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1220046?image=2 | title=Item 22: Doris Keane in Roxana }}</ref>
[[File:Romance (1920) - Keane 3.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Keane in the film ''[[Romance (1920 film)|Romance]]'' (1920)]] In 1920, she made a [[Romance (1920 film)|silent film of ''Romance'']]; it was distributed by the newly formed [[United Artists]]. Her male lead in the film was again [[Basil Sydney]].<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw292253/Doris-Keane-and-Basil-Sydney-in-Romance|title=Miss Basil Keane and Mr Basil Sydney in ''Romance''}}</ref> She played [[Catherine the Great]] in ''Czarina'' in 1922 after Sheldon had revised the play especially for her.{{Citation needed |date=April 2021}}
== Personal life == [[File:Rj59.jpg|thumb|right|180px|[[Basil Sydney]] and Doris Keane as Romeo and Juliet]] Keane became pregnant and her daughter Ronda Keane (1915–2008) while unmarried. The girl was born in [[Cannes]], France, in the period when Keane was performing in Europe. Ronda's father was wealthy American financier and socialite [[Howard Gould]], whom Keane likely had met in New York.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150924054900/http://www.obitsforlife.com/obituary/174605/Gould-Ronda.php Obitsforlife: Ronda Keane Muschenheim (nee Gould) Obituary] Retrieved March 10, 2015 (Wayback Machine; Retrieved March 28, 2018)</ref> He acknowledged his paternity but never married Doris. In 1951 Ronda married Dr {{ill|Carl Muschenheim|de}}, a New York-based thoracic specialist.
While acting with Basil Sydney in London in 1918, Keane and he fell in love and married that year. They divorced in 1925.
Doris Keane was an avid reader, and left an extensive library at her death. It included a copy of ''[[The Upanishads]]''.
Known from her theatre and film work, she became a favorite subject of contemporary artists, among them sculptor [[Jacob Epstein]] and portraitist [[De Laszlo]].
In a more popular line, the []Royal Doulton]] company produced at lesst two bone china figurines of her. One version of Keane holds a monkey, the type that was notable in the play ''Romance''.
==Death== On November 25, 1945, Keane died of cancer in New York City at the [[LeRoy Sanitarium]].<ref name="nytobit" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IMDb name|0443847}} * {{IBDB name|47570}} * [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=doris+keane Doris Keane] photo at NYP Library * [http://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/macauley&CISOPTR=925&CISOBOX=1&REC=1 Doris Keane] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212045501/http://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Fmacauley&CISOPTR=925&CISOBOX=1&REC=1 |date=February 12, 2012 }} portrait at the Univ of Louisville, Macauley's Theatre collection....[http://digital.library.louisville.edu/concern/images/ulpa_1980_020_0953?locale=en new link] * [http://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/default/poster/6.5/8/break/images-medium-5/portrait-of-doris-keane-and-jacob-ben-ami-edward-steichen.jpg Doris Keane] and Jacob Ben-Ami in 1924 Edward Steichen portrait * [https://broadway.library.sc.edu/content/doris-keene.html Broadway Photographs](Univ. of South Carolina)
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, Doris}} [[Category:1881 births]] [[Category:1945 deaths]] [[Category:People from St. Joseph, Michigan]] [[Category:American silent film actresses]] [[Category:American stage actresses]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state)]] [[Category:20th-century American actresses]]