Biography

[b]Fiske, Minnie Maddern,[/b] 1865–1932, American actress, b. New Orleans. Born of a family of actors, she spent her childhood on the stage. In 1890 she married Harrison Grey Fiske, editor of the New York Dramatic Mirror, appearing thereafter under his management. Her roles in A Doll's House (1894) and later Ghosts and Hedda Gabler established Fiske as one of the greatest interpreters of the intellectual drama of her time. Her Becky Sharp and Tess of the D'Urbervilles were particularly admired, although she was best loved as a comedienne. In 1901 she opened the Manhattan Theatre in New York City, and was influential in combating the powerful and destructive monopoly of the 1890s, the Theatrical Syndicate.
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See biography by A. Binns and O. Kooken (1955); Mrs. Fiske: Her Views on the Stage, ed. by A. Woollcott (1917, repr. 1968).