The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-22

Within the last century the Onltecl States and Canada have produced a number of actresses to whom the ad- | iectiye great may truthfully pc ap- nlied. but among the first o1 them all in point of time, and perhaps the nrst | in genius. was Charlotte Saunuers Cusknnan. The centenary of her pirur' which falls on this Sunday, is deserV- | ing of general recognition by the nas- cinles of Thespis. Among the older natrons of the theatre there are stlll to be found those who have come uh- der the spell of thds wonderful wo- man. although it is forty years since she made her final exit from the worlds stage.
 | Miss Cushman made her debut on the dramatic stage in 1885, shortly pe- I fore the retirement to religious nIe of tshe celebrated Mrs. Duff, who TOT score of years had reigned as tne uueen of the American stage. She was a contemporary of the beautlrul and talented Fanny Kemble. and or Junius Brutus Booth, Edwin Forrest' Macready, James H. Hackett, Erwln Booth, Joseph Jefferson, and other ce- lebrities of the golden age Of the New World theatre.
 Miss Cushman was a woman Of rare charm ''off" as well as "on, and she possessed in full measure all the qual- ities that go to make a really grea1 Thespian-the truly artistic tempera- meut coupled with self-cortroi ana animated by common sense; unusual natural talent and native intelligence; indomitabie will, untiring industry and self lf-sacrifscing devotion to her of~ l&R< irA n to her profession one of the most snlendid memories in the whole his tory of the theatre.
 To Miss Cushnan more than to any other person, perhaps, is due the breaking down of the old prejudices against the stage. Tn the early days
 of English drama the people of the mimic world were looked down upon as little better than vagabonds. The
 moment woman appeared before the footlights her reputation was dam. aged beyond repair. and she became
 a social outcast. This attitude toward
 the theatre was accentuated in Amer ica, and the players were viewed as
 moral pariahs. This spirit of antag. ondsm persisted into the nineteenth
 century, and Miss Cushman, by hel influence, her charm, and the purft, Eof her personal Hfe.- did much to ele'
 vate the stage and combat the Puri'
 tantcal prejudice. ,sq, l Miss Cushman was born in Bostor
 on July 2S. 1s16. the otdest of five chil. dren. In consequence of the bank.
 ruptcy of her father she was called
 upon, at the age of 12. to help support the family Possessing a fine voict
 and musical tastes, she was encour' aged by her mother and her friends to take up a musical career. She be. came choir singer. and thus attract led the attention of Mrs. Wood, wht declared her voice to be the fines Icontralto she had ever heard. Mrs
 Wood advised the girl to make the I lyrical stage her profession, and Mis-. Cushman determined to act on thi ladvice, greatly to the horror of he
 relatives and friends, who had neve, ldreamed of a stage career when the.
 urged her to study music.
 Miss Cushunan was in her nine lteenth year when she made her debu
 at the Tremon theatre in Boston, a:
 the Countess in the English adapta
 tion of Mozart's ftNozze di Figaro q Her success was such that she wa.
 offered an engagement to sing in Eng
 tsh opera at New Orleans, then tn, musical center of america. Soon af
 ter her arrival in the Crescent Cit, her voice failed her under the effec
 of sudden change of climate and O
 unwise efforts to strain her voice int, Ia soprano.
 Resolute of will anu determined t,
 succeed, she decided to become an ac ltreSs and under the tuition of MT