Description
Book SynopsisBefore there was Shirley Temple or Judy Garland or Fanny Brice, before musical comedy even existed as a genre, Maggie Mitchell (1836-1918) consistently drew sold-out crowds for four decades as a musical comedy star. Admired by Abraham Lincoln as well as John Wilkes Booth, along with millions of adoring fans, both female and male, Maggie blazed across the American stage, her energy unstoppable in her signature roles: Fanchon, Little Barefoot, Pearl of Savoy, French Spy, Little Savage, and Jane Eyre. Trying to capture her appeal, reviewers exhausted their store of adjectives and metaphors, among them “vivacious,” “beautiful,” “hoydenish,” “sprightly,” “piquant,” “elfin,” “impish,” “mischievous,” “winsome,” “electric,” “versatile,” “chaste,” “a fascinating little witch,” “a materialized sunbeam” and “a champagne sparkle.” When she finally retired, one of the wealthiest actresses in the world, she left in her wake dozens of Maggie Mitchell imitators, and critics ever since have spoken of the “Maggie Mitchell style” of acting: effervescent, endearing, and eternally youthful. As an actress, a faithful wife and mother, and an icon of respectability in a field often condemned by moralists, she left a legacy of unparalleled achievement.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Chapter 1: “a wild, restless, spritely little thing”
Chapter 2: “emphatically the People’s Pet”
Chapter 3: “quivering masculine hearts”
Chapter 4: Fanchon
Chapter 5: “talked about as much as the war”
Chapter 6: “she will never be more idolized than she was by the soldiers”
Chapter 7: “everything has been deranged”
Chapter 8: “Maggie Mitchell stands unrivaled”
Chapter 9: California and “Cricket Lodge”
Chapter 10: “she does not counterfeit it, but feels it”
Chapter 11: “everything she attempts is Fanchon”
Chapter 12: “bathed in the fountain of perennial youth”
Chapter 13: “she can’t quit the stage”
Chapter 14: “completely under his influence”
Chapter 15: “dissipated and untrue”
Chapter 16: “it is the music of the heart”
Acknowledgments
