Mme Ponisi

Ponisi, Mme. [née Elizabeth Hanson] (1818–99), actress. Born in England, she went on stage while still in her teens and shortly afterward married a fellow actor, James Ponisi. In 1850 they came to America, where she made her debut at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre as Mariana in The Wife, then played Lady Teazle for her first New York appearance. She rapidly earned a reputation as a fine and versatile performer, playing Cleopatra to Edward Eddy's Antony, and Lady Macbeth, Desdemona, and Cordelia opposite Edwin Forrest. In 1855 she created the title role in Francesca da Rimini. Ponisi joined Wallack's great ensemble in 1871 as the company's leading portrayer of old women and remained with the troupe until it was dissolved. Her Mrs. Hardcastle and Mrs. Malaprop were numbered among her finest interpretations, but she also continued to create new roles such as Widow O'Kelly in The Shaughraun (1874). Ponisi had an expressive, attractive, though not beautiful face, with large, alert eyes.