Heron, Matilda (1830–1877)

Irish-American actress. Born Matilda Agnes Heron in Londonderry, Ireland, on December 1, 1830; died at home in New York City on March 7, 1877; interred in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn; third daughter and youngest of five children of John Heron (an Irish farmholder) and Mary (Laughlin) Heron; secretly married Henry Herbert Byrne (a San Francisco lawyer), in June 1854 (separated one month later); married Robert Stoepel (an orchestra leader and composer), on December 24, 1857 (separated 1869); children: (second marriage) Hélène Stoepel (known by her stage name, Bijou Heron ).

Matilda Heron was born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1830; 12 years later, she emigrated to America with her parents and settled in Philadelphia. In 1852, she appeared at the Bowery Theater, New York, as Lady Macbeth, Juliet, Parthenia and in other parts, and her success was immediate. In 1885, for the first time, she played Camille, based on the life of Alphonsine Plessis . It was a role with which Heron's name was often identified, and one which was to become the principal feature of her repertory. "Matilda Heron, as an actress, was at her best in the part of Camille," wrote William Winter. "Other parts she acted; that one she lived. She radiated a force of magnetic emotion which it was impossible to resist. She loved the storm and revelled in the frenzy of a nature at war with itself." But, warned Winter, "That kind of nature, unless curbed by dominant intellect and regulated by strong moral sense, inevitably breaks all the bounds of reason, convention, and a serene life. Matilda Heron's career was gloriously bright for a while, and then dark with trouble and sorrow."

Toward the end of her life, Heron became destitute. A benefit performance for her was held at Niblo's Garden in 1872, in which Edwin Booth, Laura Keene, Fanny Janauschek , and others participated. Matilda Heron died five years later. She was a "magnanimous, greathearted, loving woman," writes Winter, "and she was one of the most potent elemental forces in the histrionic vocation that have ever been exerted on the American Stage."