Hading, Jane (1859–1941)

French actress. Born Jeanne Alfrédine Tréfouret on November (some sources cite March) 25, 1859, at Marseilles, France; died in 1941 (some sources cite December 31, 1933); daughter of an actor; married Victor Koning (1842–1894, the manager of the Gymnase theater), in 1884 (divorced 1887).

Jane Hading was born Jeanne Alfrédine Tréfouret on November 25, 1859, in Marseilles, where her father was an actor at the Gymnase. She made her first appearance at age three, as Little Blanche in Le bossu, a part usually represented by a doll. She was trained at the local conservatoire and in 1873 performed with a theater in Algiers. Later appearing with the Khedivial Theater in Cairo, she took on coquette, soubrette, and ingenue roles. Hading had an excellent voice, and when she returned to Marseilles she sang in operetta and acted in Ruy Blas. Her Paris debut was in La Chaste Suzanne at the Palais Royal, and she again appeared in an operetta at the Renaissance. In 1883, she enjoyed a great success at the Gymnase in Le Maitre de forges. In 1884, she married Victor Koning, manager of the Gymnase, but divorced him three years later. Hading toured America with Benoît Coquelin in 1888 and on her return abetted the success of Henri Lavedan's Le Prince d'Aurec at the Vaudeville. By then, she was known as one of the leading actresses of her day in France, America, and England. Her later repertoire included Alexandre Dumas fils' Le Demi-monde and La Princesse Georges, Alfred Capus' La Châtelaine (1902), and Maurice Donnay's Retour de Jerusalem.