She is most famous for being the lead actress in the play Our American Cousin, which was attended by President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington on the evening of his assassination.

[1][2] As it was then socially unacceptable for a woman with children and no husband to act in the theatre, she changed her name to "Laura Keene".

[6] In 1852, less than a year performing in Britain, Keene accepted an offer from James William Wallack to go to New York City, and serve as the leading lady in the stock company at his successful theater.

Keene leased the Charles Street Theater, in Baltimore, from 24 December 1853, to 2 March 1854, where she acted as manager, director and performer.

After spending a month as the manager and lessee of the Union Theatre in San Francisco (from 29 June through 29 July 1854), Keene and Booth toured to Australia.

This greatly decreased the attendance of theatre performances and gave Keene reason to leave and start a new project in New York.

She served as manager, director and star performer until 23 December when William Burton, purchased the building, and moved his own operation there.

Stage entertainment turned over quickly in that era, with few productions exceeding a dozen performances, but Keene bucked those odds.

(Betting on the play's success, Boucicault took The Colleen Bawn to London, where it opened on 10 September 1860 and ran for 230 performances, becoming the first long run in the history of English theater.)

In November 1860, Keene premiered the musical The Seven Sisters, which featured extravagant sets and ran for 253 performances, an astonishing total for the time.

On the night of 14 April 1865, Keene's company, which primarily included John Dyott and Harry Hawk, were performing Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Amid the confusion, Keene made her way to the presidential box where Lincoln lay dying and cradled the mortally wounded President's head in her lap.

[15] In 2007, Our Leading Lady, a play by Charles Busch about Laura Keene and Lincoln's assassination, opened off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club.