Considered one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the nineteenth century, Edmund Kean (1789-1833) restored authenticity to the Bard's works, where others had seen fit to change and even censor them. His performances and his life soon became legendary, but heavy drinking brought a premature end to his career.

Because there is no record of Kean's birth, the exact date is open to debate, but the best estimate places it on March 17, 1789 in London. He was the illegitimate son of Ann Carey, an actress, and Edmund Kean, an actor and apprentice surveyor. The senior Edmund Kean committed suicide at age 22, when his son was only three years old. His mother was not around, and the boy was cared for by a Charlotte Tidswell.

Tidswell was also an actress, a bit player at the Drury Lane Theatre Company. She had been the mistress of the child's uncle, Moses Kean...