The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-12-19
THURSDAY, DEC. 1s. 1912.
MRS. FIsKE. 47 TODAY,
 BEGAN STAGE. CAREER
 AT AGE OF THREE


 Mrs. vfinhie Maddefaa F'fske, the charming and talented actress who has entertained-and instructed-a generation of playegoers, will cele- brate her forty-seventh birthday to- Gay Like E. H. Sothern, Cora Urdu- hart and many other. stage stars, Mrs. Fmke claims New Orleans as her na- tive city Her father, Thomas Davey, was prominent in the South as the afr5cal manager, and her mother, Min nfes Maddern, was an actress of con- spfeuous ability. Mrs. Fiske's grand father was an English musician, Rich ard Maddern, the happy father of a large flock of children with whom he made a. concert tour of America Many older readers will remem Der the Maddern Family.
 Mrs Fiske had reached the mature age of three when she made, her. for nal sheatricai debut in Little Rock, ArALs where she was greeted as an in- fant prodigy. Even before that epoc- hal event she had charmed. audiences by singing, between acts, a ballad en- titled Jamie Coming Over the Mea- gp9ng Nw w0%1n Tork or Isxel nee with Laura Keene in Hunted Down ' She- WAS in the cast with John Mo Agnes Booth in a revival of King John at Booths Theatre in New York
 At the age of twelve Minnie Mad
 
 en parts. child's parts and leading roles. and at fifteen shone forth as a star She was the Widow Melnotte Mary Morgan in Ten Nights in a Barreom'' and Heinrich in Rip Van WInkleY Georgie in 'fFrou-Frou' and also played in several other produc- tions-
 h the intervals of her appearances on the stage. the youthful actress was educated in convents and French schools in Montreal. New Orleans, St. Louis and Cincinnati, and the instruc- careful supervision of her mother, gave her an intellectual culture su- perior to that of the average girl
 Although known on the stage as Minnie Maddern, and later as Mrs. Fiske, her real name as a child was Mary Augusta Davey. She was twen- of the brilliant dramatic c~ttfc. liar rison Grey Ffske- Her retirement from the stage was of short duration, and she soon returned to her art, under the capable anagement of MT. Fiske- Recently she added another to her long list of successes in play en- her by MT. Edward Sheldon, and pro- duced at the Hudson Theatre in New York In this vehicle Mrs. Fiske has again shown herself a subtle and gift ed artist capable of the most difficult of-roles, and rarely efficient stage manager as well. An appreciation of Mrs Fiske by Walter P-ichard Eaton Is well worth quoting:
 ITO be a great stage manager re- Quires varied poWers-the power of imaginative sympathy with the au- 1hor's ideas. the power of logical and detailed attention to the surface i1lu- Eions Of the action, and the power of inspiring and instructing the actors to catch the rhythm and message of the drama These powers Mrs. Fiske pos keeses- Mrs Fske's companies, in ded- have long been the best training school for acting in the country, be- cause the players there secure the the fullest opportunity and encourage ment''
 MT. Sheldon, the author of '"The now appearing after a long absence from. New York, won his dramatic spurs with Salvation Nel1,'' in which the title role was created by Mrs.