Maude Fealy

Actress/dramatic teacher Maude Fealy, the daughter of actress Margaret Fealy, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 3, 1881. Maude made her acting debut at three years of age in one of her mother's productions, "Faust". She was quite successful over the next few years, appearing in productions all over the US and Canada. In 1901 she toured England and was rumored to be engaged to actor William Gillette, but she denied the story and there was never any marriage. In 1907 she married a young Englishman, Louis Sherwin, who was a drama critic for a Denver newspaper. However, her parents were dead set against the marriage and took every opportunity to break it up. They eventually succeeded, and the couple divorced in 1909. Later that year she married an actor, James Durkin, who was more acceptable to her parents. The couple later formed the Fealy-Durkin Stock Co., a traveling acting troupe. She agreed to make films with the Thanhouser Co. in 1911, and appeared in a few films in between h