Fiske, Mrs. Minnie Maddern [née Mary or Marie Augusta Davey] (1865–1932), actress and playwright. Born in New Orleans, she was the daughter of the manager of the St. Charles Theatre and of Lizzie Maddern, an actress, who first carried “Little Minnie Maddern” on stage at the age of three. She made her New York debut in
A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing (1870), then a month later created the role of Little Fritz in the long‐popular
Fritz, Our Cousin German. In 1871 she played opposite Laura
Keene as Willie Leigh in
Hunted Down, and later created the part of Little Alice in the premiere of another play destined for years of popularity,
Kit, The Arkansas Traveller. Although her role was relatively small, the
Herald singled her out for praise, hailing her as “a wonder” and suggesting her talents surpassed “that [of] some of the mature artists who surround her.” After touring for a decade as Little Eva in
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Prince Arthur in
King John, and other youthful parts, Maddern returned to New York, where she shone as Chip in
Fogg's Ferry (1882) and Mercy in
Caprice (1884). Daniel
Frohman awarded her stardom when she played Stella in
In Spite of All (1885). In 1890, several years after a brief, unsuccessful marriage to Legrand White, she married Harrison Grey
Fiske and announced her retirement. For the moment she satisfied her theatrical yearnings by writing plays:
Countess Roudine,
The Rose,
The Eyes of the Heart,
A Light from St. Agnes, and
Fontenelle, which met with varying degrees of success. By 1893 the lure of the footlights proved irresistible, and she returned to the stage as Mrs. Fiske in
Hester Crewe, followed by Nora in
A Doll's House (1894), which earned her recognition as a serious actress. Her
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1897) was one of her biggest triumphs, but it coincided with the Fiskes' problems with the
Theatrical Syndicate, or Trust. Like Sarah
Bernhardt, the Fiskes were barred from performing in Syndicate houses so were forced to play undesirable theatres and even in tents. Neither the Fiskes nor their followers were discouraged, and she triumphed as
Becky Sharp (1899),
Hedda Gabler (1903),
Leah Kleschna (1904), Mrs. Karslake in
The New York Idea (1906), Rebecca West in
Rosmersholm (1907),
Salvation Nell (1908), Lona Hessel in
Pillars of Society (1910), and
Mrs. Bumpstead‐Leigh (1911). Many of these were at the Manhattan Theatre, which the Fiskes owned. But the costs of maintaining the house were too much, and the Fiskes eventually lost it. For a number of years Mrs. Fiske appeared in a series of relatively weak plays, which only her acting and her loyal admirers kept afloat. During World War I she was a member of an all‐star cast for
Out There. Not until the end of her career, when she appeared in several superb revivals, did she again know the acclaim that had been hers earlier: Mrs. Malaprop in
The Rivals (1925), Mrs. Alving in
Ghosts (1927), and Mistress Page in
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1928). Her last New York appearance was as Mrs. Tyler in
It's a Grand Life (1930). Ill health and age forced her to withdraw from a pre‐Broadway tour of
Against the Wind.
Short and red‐headed, Mrs. Fiske was one of the greatest American actresses. Ward
Morehouse has written, “Mrs. Fiske never had beauty, but she had magnetism. She had with all of her nervous, jerky manner, subtlety and finesse, and she was as much at ease in light‐handed drawing‐room comedy as she was in the problem plays of Ibsen.” Many critics saw her style as heavily influenced by
Duse's underplaying. She herself called it “natural, true acting.” She once created a furor by delivering an important speech to George
Arliss with her back to the audience, and elsewhere awed playgoers by holding their attention for ten minutes without moving and without speaking as she cradled her drunken lover's head in her lap in
Salvation Nell. Yet she was also sometimes too subservient to the demands of less thoughtful playgoers. She forced C. M. S.
McLellan to write an extra act for
Leah Kleschna, giving the play a contrived happy ending instead of his original, ambiguous one. Much of the criticism leveled at her during her career is suspect, possibly written by critics susceptible to the Trust's bribes. In a curious way, Franklin P. Adams's droll verse best sums up most playgoers' reactions:
Somewords she runstogetherso, Some others are distinctly stated.
Somecometoofast and s o m e t o o s l o w And some are syncopated,
And yet no voice—I am sincere—Exists that I prefer to hear.
