Minnie Maddern Fiske

Mrs. Fiske
"Mrs. Fiske: Love Finds the Way." Photograph by Zaida Ben-Yusuf (1896)
Born	Marie Augusta Davey (1865-12-19)December 19, 1865 New Orleans, Louisiana
Died	February 15, 1932(1932-02-15) (aged 66) Hollis, Long Island, New York
Other names	Minnie Maddern Fiske
Occupation	Actress, playwright
Spouse(s)	LeGrand White (m. 1882 - June 25, 1888) Harrison Grey Fiske (m. March 19, 1890 - 1932; her death)

Minnie Maddern Fiske (December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), born as Marie Augusta Davey with some sources quoting December 19, 1864 as her date of birth, but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. She also spearheaded the fight against the Theatrical Syndicate for the sake of artistic freedom. She was widely considered the most important actress on the American stage in the first quarter of the 20th century.^[1] Her performances in several Henrik Ibsen plays widely introduced American audiences to the Norwegian playwright.

Career

Minnie Maddern Fiske as a child; 1870s.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, she was the daughter of stage manager Thomas Davey and actress Lizzie Maddern.

She performed her first professional show at the age of three as the Duke of York in Richard III. She debuted in New York as a four-year-old in the play A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing. She toured extensively as a child, and was educated in many convent schools. She was a child prodigy, touring and performing in numerous productions. According to the New York Times article "Ibsen or Shakespeare?" (March 18, 1928), Harrison Grey Fiske was 12 years old when he first set eyes on the future Mrs. Fiske — she was but eight, performing in a Shakespearean role. Her pay was in lollipops.

By the time she was 16, she was a leading lady, and was cast in the leading role of Chip in the play Fogg's Ferry. She was recognized for her unique beauty and singing voice. She married LeGrand White, a theater musician in Fogg's Ferry, but they divorced shortly thereafter.

Two years later, she married Harrison Grey Fiske in March 1890, and took three years off from the stage.^[2][3] Leaving a life of domesticity, she returned to the theatre in 1893 as a playwright and director, having written one-act plays such as A Light for St. Agnes, The Rose, and The Eyes of the Heart. She wrote several plays and collaborated with her husband in writing Fontenelle. Mr. Fiske directed virtually all of his wife's plays after their marriage.

Minnie Maddern Fiske.
Photograph by Fred Holland Day.

After her husband's unsuccessful production of Hester Crewe, Minnie Maddern debuted as Nora in A Doll's House by Henrick Ibsen, at the Empire Theatre in New York, launching Ibsen's career because of her outstanding performance.^[4] She is perhaps most famous for starring as Becky Sharp^[5] in the original 1899 production of Langdon Mitchell's Becky Sharp, a play based on William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair. Among her many triumphs on the Broadway stage were: Becky Sharp (1899, revivals 1904, 1911), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1897, revival 1902), A Doll's House (1902), Hedda Gabler (1903, revival 1904), Leah Kleschna (1904–05), Salvation Nell (1908–09), The High Road (1912–13), Madame Sand (1917–18), a play about George Sand; Mis' Nelly of N'Orleans (1919), Helena's Boys (1924), Ghosts (1927), Ladies of the Jury (1929–30), as well as her self-written plays The Rose (1905), The Eyes of the Heart (1905), A Light from St. Agnes (1906). Mrs. Fiske starred in everything from farce to tragedy and even appeared in a comedy with puppets Wake Up, Jonathan! (1921). Her final appearance on Broadway was in 1930 in an acclaimed production of The Rivals cast as Mrs. Malaprop.

^[6] Minnie Fiske in a promotional photo for "Becky Sharp" in 1911.

In the mid-1910s, Mrs. Fiske starred in two feature film adaptions of two of her greatest stage triumphs, Tess Of the d'Urbervilles in 1913 and Vanity Fair in 1915, both of which were surprisingly successful with moviegoers, although she herself felt she was not at her best in the medium and declined further film work.

She was a pioneer for realism in acting, also supporting Ibsen's works for their honest portrayals of humanity.^[7] Her love for performing Ibsen over Shakespeare, and her position that Ibsen is the better study for actors, can not be overstated. She told The New York Times in January 1908:

"Ibsen is of interest to the actor because properly to understand a role you must study the character from its earliest childhood. Most Ibsen men and women have lived their lives before the curtain rises. Shakespeare has often been pronounced tedious by actors because his characters require a great deal of study. But even Shakespeare seems easy when compared with the thought that must be bestowed upon Ibsen. The beautiful verse, the wonderful character drawing of Shakespeare furnish solutions of perplexing problems, but Ibsen is so elusive. He fascinates by his aloofness. He is the Wagner of the drama. Wagner struggled for understanding just as Ibsen has struggled."

Although she was highly praised as an actor, she died poverty-stricken, having fought against a group of producers that organized the Theatrical Trust or Syndicate.^[2] This organization took control of first-class playhouses in the country, dictated the plays chosen, and the actors that were cast. She fought for artistic freedom for twelve years, which caused her to perform in third-class theatres, such as churches and skating rinks.

On top of her battle against the Syndicate, she was also one of the most prominent animal welfare advocates of her era. She fought against the wearing of snowy and great egrets on hats,^[8] raised awareness of the cruelties of fur trapping, and changed the treatment of cattle on ranges. Because she was well-known and loved, people followed her example and she was able to make a difference.^[4] She was twice named one of the twelve greatest living American women because of her fight for animal rights and for her outstanding talent. She was first named in 1923 by the League of Women Voters, and then again in 1931 by Good Housekeeping magazine.^[2] Mark Twain wrote the story "A Horse's Tale" for her.^[9]

Death

She died from congestive heart failure, at the age of 66, in Queens, New York. She and Harrison had no children. Around 1915 the couple did adopt an infant boy who would've been a teen at Mrs. Fiske's death in 1932.^[10] The actress Emily Stevens (1882–1928) was her cousin, as was Elizabeth Maddern, the first wife of author Jack London; she was also related to stage actress Merle Maddern (1887-1984).^[11][12][13] Robert Stevens, for 23 years the Director of the Rochester Community Players, and brother to Emily Stevens, was also a cousin.^[14]

In 1961, her papers (23,000 items, weighing in at 1,400 pounds) were donated to the United States Library of Congress.^[15]

Selected theater appearances

References

Attribution

 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fiske, Minnie Maddern". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Publications

• Binns, Archie, Mrs Fiske and the American Theatre. New York: Crown Publishers, 1955.
• Brown, Thomas Allston, A History of the New York Stage From the First Performance in 1732 to 1901, vol. III, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903.
• Chapman, John, and Garrison P. Sherwood, eds., The Best Plays of 1894-1899, New York: Dodd, Mead, & Company, 1955.
• Anne L. Fliotsos, Wendy Vierow (2008). American Women Stage Directors of the Twentieth Century. University of Illinois Press. pp. 168–178. ISBN 978-0-252-03226-4. 
• Hapgood, Norman, The Stage in America, 1897-1900, Norwood, Mass.: The Macmillan Company, 1901.
• "Ibsen or Shakespeare?", New York Times, Sunday, March 18, 1928. Section 9, pg.4
• Mantle, Burns, and Garrison P. Sherwood, eds., The Best Plays of 1899-1909, Philadelphia: The Blakiston Company, 1944.
• Frederic Edward McKay, Charles Edgar Lewis Wingate (1896). Famous American Actors of To-Day. New York: T.Y. Crowell. pp. 328–340. 
• Lewis Clinton Strang (1899). Famous Actresses of the Day in America. Boston: L.C. Page and Company. pp. 49–68. 
• Winter, William, The Wallet of Time, Volumes One and Two, New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1913.
• Alexander Woollcott (1917). Mrs. Fiske: Her views on actors, acting, and the problems of production. New York: The Century Co. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minnie Maddern Fiske.

• Minnie Maddern Fiske at the Internet Broadway Database
• Minnie Maddern Fiske at the Internet Movie Database
• Minnie Maddern Fiske and Harrison Grey Fiske papers, 1818-1955, held by the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
• Minnie Maddern Fiske letters, 1913-1941, held by the Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library
• Photographs of Minnie Maddern Fiske, held by the New York Public Library
• "Minnie Maddern Fiske", William Merritt Chase, Ronald G. Pisano, William Merritt Chase, D. Frederick Baker, Marjorie Shelley
• Actress Minnie Maddern Fiske, American Treasures of the Library of Congress
• Minnie Maddern Fiske, (1865-1932) Actress, Star, Manager, Crusader, Wayne Turney
• Minnie Maddern Fiske at Find a Grave
• Mrs Fiske in The Actors Birthday Book
• Minnie Maddern Fiske University of Washington Sayre Collection
• Mrs. Fiske University of Washington, Sayre
• Autochrome color portrait of Mrs. Fiske
• Autochrome color photo of Mrs. Fiske in Becky Sharp
•  Beach, Chandler B., ed. (1914). "Fiske, Minnie Maddern". The New Student's Reference Work. Chicago: F. E. Compton and Co.