The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1875-11-27

among our amusement lovers.
MISS FANNIE LEE.
| DR.. Doran, in speaking OF the cele-
brated Kitty Give, said: cover her au-
diences she ruled supremely; they felt
with her, smiled with her, sIeered with
her giggle, tossed their heads, and
laughed aloud with her. She was the
one true comic genius, and none could
| withstand her," So we may say OF Lit
tie Fannie Lee, or Little Lee as she is
tcalled by her companions about the
theater, with whom she is as great pet
as she is with the public. She is born
comedian; it is not in her to speak a
serious iiue with due effect, although it
lis related of her that she played s'OliFer
lTwisp SO naturally that she forced her
audience to tears. But as for us, we
should never weep unless they were
tears of laughter; for though 1t may seem
ltar-ietched and eKtravagant praise, es-
peeially while that little genius Lotta Is
In our midst, to our minds the comic
muse has had few more promising dis
cipies. She is the Robin Goodfeilow SO
to speak OF our stage-a mad spirit that
leads around about through bog and
brush, through brake and brier, yet
ticki es us with laughter until IL is al
most torture. Who that has ever seen
Iher as "Belinda" in ''Our Boys" would
ldeny the truth of this? She is not the
actress that Lotta is, but who wiil
say that with more mature years she
lmay not be, considering that now she
is only in her nineteenth yearf She
has faults, IL is true, and those that she
has are glaring ones, but she is possessed
OF the 'open sesame" to the peoples
hearts, the great Keynote to sue
jcess. She was born in the city OF New
York in 1855, though the greater part OF
her childhood was spent In the sanity
city OF Brooklyn. Her first appearance
1upon the stage was at Niblo's Garden in
| 1874, as month" in the buriesque
ssbabes in the Woods" the Vokes be-
ling the stars. How she came to choose
the stage as q profession We shall relate
lin her own words: "My sister, Bessie
don, was then playing with the Vekes at
Niblo's. One day she came home in a
great hurry, and, running TO me, said,
Fan, have part for you in. the new
buriesque; If you ever want to be an
actress, now's your chance' Il don't
want to be an actress said 1. I'd rather
do anything than go on the stage But
then, you see, didn't know anything
about the stage; did not love the thea
ter then as do now. Very welp said
Bessie, you'll change you mind one OF
l IuS6t QdySS bCC IL 5Ou uOh ts hlu
change it,Jeo. / went TO my room and had
, cry about it. Presently found Bessie,
and said, rather roughly, 'Giye me the
: part.' ] studied it, went TO rehearsal
next morning, and that night made my
: first appearance, walking upon the stage
with as mucn assurance as ever Mrs
Siudons did; in fact, l never have tell
: SO utterly careless OF everybody and
everything about me since. The boa
ouets that my friends and school-mates
were kind enough to throw me, L ae.
cepted, as a matter of course, moi
: dreaming or caring about the honor"
Tue first appearance WAS q success, as
far as a small part goes, but it was not
until about month afterwards, when
: Letfingweh appeared as "R lmeo Jaffi sr
Jenkins" in the roaring farce of "Ioo
Much ior Good Nature" that Fannie
Lee made her first hit, as they say in
stage parlance. ."Mrs. Adolphus" was
her hrst part Of any consequence, and
not only did the house, and tnat u llouse
such as the V0Kes alone Can draw, thun-
der their appreciation, but Mr.. Lef-
tingwell himself complimented her upon
ner SUCCESS. She played at Niblo's
about half the season, Then crossed over
TO brooklyn, playing AT the Park Thea
: ter. ssMary," an "The Kiss in the Dark D
"UliVer IWjst.n .snd several otaer gooC
pafts ieil TO her lot, which she, as mat.
ter OF course, made tue most OF, es
pecially the latter, in which she is said
10 have been d great success. The sea
son ut the Park Tneauer closed in Jan
uary, and from that time untIl May she
was out of AN engagement, and tAougnt
+, seriously OF abandoning the stage, bul
2 shortly afterwards she received q
very tempting offer from the man
{: agement OF the Academy o
! Music at st. Johns, New Brunswick
! wilicn she accepted, remaining Until the
: 27th Of August. While at St. Johns sL,
: won many encomiums from both pres.
and public, especially as "Meya," il
I Buuccault's celebrated play of "Tht
: Shaughraun," whfcn part sIe made al
:. most exclusively her own. Though heI
9 first eAtree upon the stage was u thru!
70 Almost OF chance, she noG having beei
led to it by amy love or lancy, sne hal
: gradually grown TO love it, and is now
Z, as sue nerseit says, passionately fond y
aeLing, and has hISh and almost ro
a mantlc opinion of the stage, as a yehicl
i vi moral instruction, claiming that IL Il
) not the stage that Is immoral, but tn,
< slanderers and traducers OF the stag,
7. That make 1T appear so. Her hrst ap
i pearance in this city was last Septem
J. Der in the character oil ''Therese," il
u MRS. Laider's drama, "Euge Tools. ,
She has appeared in many parts since
e and has become great fayorIte with til,
u public. sac IL, We may say, tn0us sh sh
'- does not like tc be called 80, mer,
e child, but carries an old head upoi
d young shoulders. Tne only cnaracte
q that sne mas essayed during her stay ii
n this city in wnlch she showed to bad al
't vantage was "Francois," in "RicaeIieu,'
u and that was not, as many can bear wit
u ness, 50 much of failure after all; bu
!, it lacked force, showing too much OF tn
Q girl in the boy. "No WONDER" said Lii
e tie Lee, II don't like to be dressed Il
y boys clothes; I'd rather wear the oil
II rag OF u chambefmaid. There are me
II enough about tneater without calm
n upon the soubrette to wrestle wit
3 |.Rlchelieu's' enemies;" and we thin
l. SO too. Wepredict l6r her u great future
!, and expect some day TO see our cit
o billed with ''Fannie Lee" in letters a
: large as herself.
NJ MISS ELLA MAYER
t. is probably one OF the best dialect aci
2 resses in the West, though, strange t
II say, was never fond of comedy, and q
n ways thought she was destined to shin
Y in tragedy or "serious business" Lik
l. Forrest, who once thought himself
I LkA al