Julia Seaman (1837-1909)

Julia Seaman was the daughter of Irish playwright William Seaman and London actress Julia Seaman. When little Julia made her New York debut in 1849, she was hailed as a child prodigy. Young Seaman was unusually successful in serious male parts; she could make the audience forget her legal gender identity. Her best-known role was Hamlet, which she performed in more than thirty productions. Here Seaman poses in her Hamlet costume at the Gurney studio in New York.