Jane Stephens (actress)

{{Short description|British actress}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Jane Tryphoena Stephens | image = Jane 'Grannie' Stephens Portrait.jpg | caption = Jane 'Grannie' Stephens by William Bond | birth_name = | birth_date = 1812? | birth_place = | death_date = 15 January 1896 | death_place = Clapham Common | death_cause = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = | title = | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Jane Tryphoena Stephens''' (1812? – 15 January 1896) was a British actress who became famous as she became older.

==Life== [[File:Jane Grannie Stephens Grave.jpg|thumb|170px|left|Stephens' grave in Brookwood Cemetery]] Her first surname is unknown as she sometimes appeared as "Miss Stephens". She had a husband called Joseph Stephens who was a solicitor's clerk. Before she took to the stage in 1840 she ran a tobacconists. She took a variety of roles but it was not until 1854 that she found her niche. She took on "grandmotherly" type roles in a number of productions and was affectionately known as "Granny" Stephens.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001179/18890712/029/0010|title=The Shaftesbury - Mrs. Stephens's Farewell|date=12 July 1889|work=The Stage|access-date=18 February 2019|issue=434|page=10|url-access=subscription |via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref> She finished her career on 9 July 1889 with a benefit programme at the Shaftesbury Theatre. The committee responsible for promoting the show included R D'Oyly Carte, George Edwardes and C H Hawtrey.<ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|id=26386|title=Stephens, Jane Tryphoena|year=2004|last=Knight|first=Joseph|last2=Gilliland|first2=Jean}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Stephens died in Clapham Common in 1896 of bronchitis.<ref name="odnb" /> She was cremated on 20 January and her ashes were buried in the Actors' Acre in Brookwood Cemetery in Woking.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001652/18960121/018/0002|title=The Late Mrs Jane Stephens|date=21 January 1896|work=The Globe|access-date=18 February 2019|issue=31404|page=2|url-access=subscription |via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref>

==Legacy== There is a portrait of "Mrs Stephens" in the National Portrait Gallery by William Bond dating from the early 19th century.<ref>[http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp128290/mrs-stephens Mrs Stephens], National Portrait Gallery, London</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Jane Tryphoena}} Category:1810s births Category:1896 deaths Category:British stage actresses Category:19th-century British actresses Category:Deaths from bronchitis Category:Burials at Brookwood Cemetery