Born: 19 December 1865, United States
Died: 15 February 1932
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Marie Augusta Davey, Mrs. Fiske
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
1865, Dec. 19 Born Marie Augusta Davey, New Orleans, La.
1868 First stage performance, as the young Duke of York in Shakespeare’s Richard III
1880 Appeared on New York stage for the first time, in Fritz, Our German Cousin
1882 Married LeGrand White (divorced 1888)
1890 Married Harrison Grey Fiske
1894, Feb. 15 First appearance in Henrick Ibsen’s A Doll’s House
1897, Mar. 2 First appearance in Tess of the D’Urbervilles
1899, Sept. 4 First appearance in Becky Sharp
1901-1907 Co-managed Manhattan Theater with Harrison Grey Fiske
1903 First appearance in Hedda Gabler
1908, Nov. 12 First appearance in Salvation Nell
1912-1913 Campaigned for legislation forbidding importation of aigrette plumes
1925 Honored in Washington, D. C., as advocate for animal welfare
1927 Awarded honorary D.Lit., University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
1931, Nov. 7 Last stage performance, appearing in Against the Wind in Chicago, Ill.
1932, Feb. 14 (15?) Died, Hollis, Long Island, N.Y.
The following is excerpted from Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company.
Minnie Maddern Fiske, an American actress, born in New Orleans. From infancy her life was largely spent in the theatre, and at three years she made her appearance on the stage. After traveling about, and playing many parts as a young girl, she was brought out as a star at the age of seventeen in a comedy called Foggs’ Ferry.
In 1890 she was married to Harrison Grey Fiske and retired from the stage until 1893 when she played Nora in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. It was in 1897 that she made a powerful impression in Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and in 1899 she gave a remarkable impersonation of Becky Sharp in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.
Since then Mrs. Fiske has made a number of productions that have commanded attention by their high artistic quality. She is an actress of strong intelligence, with natural realistic methods, and displaying at times great powers of sustained emotion and suppressed intensity. As an interesting and original dramatic artist, Mrs. Fiske occupies a notable position in the modern American stage.