Born: 19 December 1865, United States
Died: 15 February 1932
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Marie Augusta Davey, Mrs. Fiske
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.