In 1859, the Bateman family moved to New York, and the following March, sixteen-year-old Kate appeared in her mother's adaptation of
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's
Evangeline at New York's
Winter Garden. This role launched Bateman on her adult career as an actor, and she eventually became known primarily for romantic roles like Shakespeare's
Juliet and Pauline in
The Lady of Lyons as well as leading roles in melodramas. Another early success was as Julia in
The Hunchback in 1862. One of Bateman's most celebrated roles was as the title character in
Leah the Forsaken,
Augustin Daly's adaptation of
Mosenthal's
Deborah. The play opened in Boston in 1862, moved to
Niblo's Garden in New York in 1863, and then went to London for a three-year run. Despite poor reviews, it proved to be very popular, in part due to Bateman's highly emotional performance. In 1863, Bateman wrote
A Memoir of Miss Bateman; it included her observations about performing the play together with some extracts from the play itself. In 1866, Bateman married George Crowe (1841-1889), son of
Eyre Evans Crowe (a former editor of the London
Daily News). She settled in England with him and left the stage for two years. After Bateman returned to the stage she appeared regularly at the
Lyceum Theatre in London with her sisters
Virginia and
Isabel. Here she played the role of Lady Macbeth with
Henry Irving and in 1875 took the title-part of
Tennyson's
Queen Mary. When her mother became manager of the
Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1879, she appeared as Helen Macgregor in
Rob Roy, followed in 1881 by the role of Margaret Field in
Henry Arthur Jones's
His Wife. In the late 1880s, Bateman left the stage again for several years due to an illness. She returned in 1891 in
Henry James'
The American. The following year, she opened a school for acting in London. In 1907, she appeared in
Euripides'
Medea. In 1917, Bateman died from a cerebral hemorrhage. She was buried at
Hendon parish church. ==Descendants==