Miss Foote
| Maria Foote | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
24 July 1797 Plymouth |
| Died | 27 December 1867 (aged 70) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Title | Countess of Harrington |
| Term | 1831-1867 |
Maria Stanhope, Countess of Harrington (1797?-1867), better known as Maria Foote, was an English actress and peeress in the nineteenth century.
Foote was born 24 July 1797(?) at Plymouth. Her father, Samuel T. Foote (1761–1840), who claimed to be a descendant of Samuel Foote, sold out of the army, became manager of the Plymouth theatre, and married a Miss Hart. In July 1810 Miss Foote appeared as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at her father's theatre, where she also played as Susan Ashfield in Thomas Morton's Speed the Plough, and as Emily Worthington in George Colman's Poor Gentleman.
In 1813, her father took over the Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter. On 26 May 1814, she appeared at Covent Garden Theatre as Amanthis in the Child of Nature by Elizabeth Inchbald. In this part, which suited her, she made a great success. Her second appearance was at the same theatre in the same character in the following season, 14 September 1814. On 6 December she was the original Ulrica in The King and the Duke, or Which is Which?, attributed to Robert Francis Jameson.
On 2 January 1815 she played Miranda in The Tempest, and 17 April 1815 was the original Adela in the Fortune of War, attributed to James Kenney. For her benefit, 6 June 1815, she appeared as Statira in Alexander the Great, William Henry West Betty acting, for that occasion only, Alexander. This was her first appearance in tragedy. Fanny in The Clandestine Marriage, Hippolita in an alteration of the Tempest, Lady Percy in King Henry IV, Helena in the Midsummer Night's Dream, and many other parts, chiefly secondary, in old pieces and new, then followed.
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