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Fanny Lily Gipsey Davenport (April 10, 1850 – September 26, 1898) was an English-American
The eldest child of
Britannica.com; retrieved December 27, 2016. At age 7, she appeared at Boston's Howard Athenæum as Metamora's child, but her real debut occurred in February 1862 when she portrayed King Charles in ''Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady'' at
226–254
Fanny Davenport
picture gallery at NYP Library * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, Fanny American stage actresses 19th-century English actresses English stage actresses British emigrants to the United States 1850 births 1898 deaths
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
actress.
Life
The eldest child of Edward Loomis Davenport
Edward Loomis Davenport (1816September 1, 1877) was an American actor.
Life and career
Born in Boston, he made his first appearance on the stage in Providence, Rhode Island in support of Junius Brutus Booth. Afterwards he went to England, where ...
and Fanny Elizabeth (Vining) Gill Davenport, Fanny Lily Gypsey Davenport was born on April 10, 1850 in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
Most of her siblings were actors, including Harry Davenport Harry Davenport may refer to:
* Harry Davenport (actor) (1866–1949), American film and stage actor
* Harry Davenport (footballer) (1900–1984), Australian footballer
* Harry J. Davenport (1902–1977), Democratic Party member of the U.S. House ...
. She was brought to the United States in 1854 and educated in the Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
public schools.Fanny Lily Gypsey DavenportBritannica.com; retrieved December 27, 2016. At age 7, she appeared at Boston's Howard Athenæum as Metamora's child, but her real debut occurred in February 1862 when she portrayed King Charles in ''Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady'' at
Niblo's Garden
Niblo's Garden was a theater on Broadway and Crosby Street, near Prince Street, in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1823 as "Columbia Garden" which in 1828 gained the name of the ''Sans Souci'' and was later the property of ...
.
From 1869 to 1877, she performed in Augustin Daly
John Augustin Daly (July 20, 1838June 7, 1899) was one of the most influential men in American theatre during his lifetime. Drama critic, theatre manager, playwright, and adapter, he became the first recognized stage director in America. He exer ...
's company; and afterwards, with a company of her own, acted with particular success in Sardou's ''Fédora
''Fédora'' is a play by the French author Victorien Sardou. It opened at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris on 11 December 1882,Noël, Edouard and Philippe StoulligLes Annales du théâtre et de la musique, 1882 p. 245 and ran for 135 performa ...
'' (1883) her leading man being Robert B. Mantell
Robert Bruce Mantell (7 February 1854 – 27 June 1928) was a noted Shakespearean stage actor who made several silent films. His mother was Elizabeth Bruce Mantell who objected to her son becoming an actor so he used the name Robert Hudson earl ...
, ''Cleopatra'' (1890), and similar plays. She took over emotional Sardou roles that had been originated in Europe by Sarah Bernhardt. Her last appearance was at the Grand Opera House in Chicago on March 25, 1898, shortly before her death.
Her first husband was Edwin B. Price, an actor. They married on July 30, 1879, and divorced on June 8, 1888. On May 18, 1889, she married her leading man, Melbourne MacDowell
Willet Melbourne MacDowell (November 22, 1856 – February 18, 1941) was an American stage and screen actor. He began on the legitimate stage in the 1870s and first appeared on the silent screen in 1917. He used the stage name Virginia Drew Pres ...
. Both marriages were childless.
Davenport died September 26, 1898, from an enlarged heart, at her summer home in Duxbury, Massachusetts
Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a historic seaside town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 at the 20 ...
.
Further reading
* Benton, in Mckay and Wingate, ''Famous American Actors of To-Day'' (New York, 1896) * Montrose J. Moses, ''Famous Actor-Families in America'' (New York, 1906), pp226–254
References
Sources
* *External links
Fanny Davenport
picture gallery at NYP Library * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, Fanny American stage actresses 19th-century English actresses English stage actresses British emigrants to the United States 1850 births 1898 deaths