Minnie Maddern Fiske

Mrs. Fiskes' passion for anti-vivisection societies was as great as that for the theatre. Christened Mary Augusta Davey, she was born in New Orleans, December 19, 1865. Daughter of Thomas Davey, Southern theatrical manger, and Elizabeth Maddern, well-know musician, she was on the stage most of her sixty-seven years. As Minnie Maddern she was a child actress and a soubrette; a period she referred to as her prehistoric days. When three, she first appeared as the Duke of York in Richard III at Little Rock, Arkansas. On July 11, 1870, she made her New York debut. At sixteen she was a star. At nineteen she sang in a highly successful play, Caprice. On March 19, 1890, when she married Harrison Grey Fiske, editor of the Dramatic Mirror, and later her manager, she left the stage. Four years later, she returned as Mrs. Fiske, a tragedienne, and scored as Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Becky Sharp and Salvation Nell, her favorite role. In the latter part of her career, she turned to light comedy. She was a slight woman, and in her early days had a shock of carroty hair. She used her hands eloquently to score a point, moved with excessive rapidity and spoke quickly with clear crisp enunciation. An engaging conversationalist, she was frank, alert, and modest and had humor. On rare occasions when she appeared in public she was heavily veiled. She used a lorgnette, was opposed to repertory and interviews, and claimed she could never play a love scene convincingly. She died in Hollis, Long Island, February 15, 1932, and at her own request was cremated. Her husband survived her by ten years.