Maude Granger (1849-August 17, 1928) was a popular American stage actress of the latter part of the 19th century, and early 20th century.

Biography

Granger was born Anna Brainard in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

. She made her Broadway debut in ''A Woman's Heart'' at the

Union Square Theatre Union Square Theatre was the name of two different theatres near Union Square, Manhattan, New York City. The first was a Broadway theatre that opened in 1870, was converted into a cinema in 1921 and closed in 1936.(8 October 1921)Two landmarks to ...

.(14 September 1890
Maude Granger's Career
''San Francisco Call'' She took over the lead part in ''Led Astray'' when Rose Eytinge became ill. She also appeared in '' The Two Orphans'', ''

Two Nights in Rome ''Two Nights in Rome'' is an 1880 American play by Archibald Clavering Gunter. Directed to and consumed by the popular masses like all of Gunter's output, it has been described by modern critics as a success, and a "crude but powerful drama."

'', ''The Planter's Wife'', ''Broken Hearts'', and ''My Partner''. Later she took on more Shakespearean roles, and also appeared in more Broadway hits such as '' The First Year'' (1920) and ''Pigs'' (1924). While playing in ''Pigs'' in Chicago she fell ill, and had to retire after failing to fully recover from surgery. She retired after a 55-year stage career.(18 August 1928)
Maude Granger, Noted Actress, Dies at 77
'' The New York Times'' Historian David S. Shields has written that Granger competed with Clara Morris for "the title of the most gripping actress of the American stage during the third quarter of the 19th century." Her talent led many New York theatre managers to vie for her, with associations with Augustin Daly, Lester Wallack, and the Union Square company. She also "had a particular interest in elevating the anguish of contemporary women to the status of classical tragedy".Maude Granger
Broadway Photographs (broadway.cas.sc.edu), Retrieved 21 December 2021 In 1885, the book ''New National Theater, Washington DC: A record of Fifty Years'' by Alexander Hunter said of Granger: " The statuesque Maude made by far the most beautiful Mlle. Gautier that the audience had ever seen, for she had a figure that Rubens would have loved to paint — a Byron describe — large, full, sensuous. On a pose in a tableau Miss Granger was a success, but as an actress in such a character as “Camille" she was an insolvent in the dramatic bank, and more people went to see her out of curiosity than with a desire to be entertained."
(1885) (quoted in 2018 blog posting with various sources about Granger)

Personal

Though late 19th century newspapers report other marriages, her obituaries simply noted that Granger married Alfred Calmer of Chicago in 1888, and that he soon after died and she never remarried.(18 August 1928)
Maude Granger Dies of Age Of 77 Years
''New Britain Herald''

References

External links

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Maude Granger at Broadway Photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granger, Maude 1849 deaths 1928 deaths 19th-century American actresses 20th-century American actresses American stage actresses