Wagner, Charles L.

Mary Anderson was an American actress who performed in both the United States and England in the 1870s and 1880s, retired from the stage in 1889, married, and spent the remaining fifty years of her life in England. Born in Sacramento, California in 1859, Mary Anderson grew up in Kentucky, where her family moved during her childhood, and was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Louisville. She was determined to become an actress from an early age, and at age 15 read for Charlotte Saunders Cushman, who suggested she train in New York. Mary Anderson made her stage debut as Juliet in a Louisville production of ROMEO & JULIET in 1875, toured the country, then made her New York debut in THE LADY OF LYONS (1877). After touring the United States for the next six years, she made her London debut in INGOMAR (1883). During the six years which followed Mary Anderson travelled between America and England, becoming renowned for her Shakespearean performances, especially as Rosalind, Hermione, and Perdita, and starring in several plays by W.S. Gilbert. In 1889 she suffered a nervous breakdown and permanently retired from the stage. In 1890 Mary Anderson married Antonio de Navarro, settled in Worcestershire, England, and worked on occasional literary projects, including a memoir, A FEW MEMORIES (1896), a play, THE GARDEN OF ALLAH (1911), which she co-authored with Robert Smythe Hichens, and a second volume of memoirs, A FEW MORE MEMORIES (1936). Mary Anderson de Navarro died in 1940 at the age of 81.

From the guide to the Letters from Mary Anderson, 1910-1940, (The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.)