Roger Kemble

Roger Kemble (March 1, 1721- December 6, 1802) was an English theatre manager, strolling player and actor. In 1753, he married actress Sarah "Sally" Ward (1735-1807) at Cirencester, Gloucester, and they had twelve children, who formed the great Kemble family of 19th-century actors and actresses.Roger Kemble was born in Herefordshire. Kemble's first entered the theatre by joining Smith's company at Canterbury in 1752. Later he acted at Birmingham under the management of John Ward, whose daughter he would eventually marry. Upon Ward's retirement, Roger took on his first management position by taking over the management of the theatre at Leominster (1766). He formed a traveling theatrical company soon after his marriage to Sarah Ward, and subsequently she and their children toured with the company for the next fifteen years.