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Minnie Maddern Fiske

Minnie Maddern Fiske Biography

Actress

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“Go into the streets, into the slums, into the fashionable quarters. Go into the day courts and the night courts. Become acquainted with sorrow, with many kinds of sorrow. Learn of the wonderful heroism of the poor, of the incredible generosity of the very poor”

KindNightPoorWonderfulStreetsSorrowCourtIncrediblesGenerosityQuartersHeroismFashionableSlumsNight Court
Book:Mrs. Fiske: Her Views on Actors, Acting, and the Problems of Production
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“As soon as I suspect a fine effect is being achieved by accident I lose interest. I am not interested...in unskilled labor. ...The scientific actor is an even worker. Any one may achieve on some rare occasion an outburst of genuine feeling, a gesture of imperishable beauty, a ringing accent of truth; but your scientific actor knows how he did it. He can repeat it again and again and again. He can be depended on.”

KnowsMayFeelingsActorsInterestLosesKnow HowAchieveEffectsFineLaborWorkersAccidentsGenuineOccasionsRepeatsSuspectsGesturesNot InterestedAgain And AgainAccentsOutburstRare Occasion
Author:Minnie Maddern Fiske
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“... most of all the actor will love the boys and girls, the men and women, who sit in the cheapest seats, in the very last row of the top gallery. They have given more than they can afford to come. In the most self-effacing spirit of fellowship they are listening to catch every word, watching to miss no slightest gesture or expression. To save his life the actor cannot help feeling these nearest and dearest. He cannot help wishing to do his best for them. He cannot help loving them best of all.”

MenSelfHelpingFeelingsLastsSpiritGirlActorsGivenWishBoysMissingHe ManExpressionListeningMen And WomenSeatsGesturesFellowshipGalleryBoy And Girl
Author:Minnie Maddern Fiske
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“...I have never known a movement in the theater that did not work direct and serious harm. Indeed, I have sometimes felt that the very people associated with various uplifting activities in the theater are people who are astoundingly lacking in idealism.”

PeopleSometimesFeltKnownMovementSeriousActivityDirectTheaterVariousHarmUpliftingLackingIdealism
Book:Mrs. Fiske: Her Views on Actors, Acting, and the Problems of Production
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“It is in the irony of things that the theatre should be the most dangerous place for the actor. But, then, after all, the world is the worst possible place, the most corrupting place, for the human soul. And just as there is no escape from the world, which follows us into the very heart of the desert, so the actor cannot escape the theatre. And the actor who is a dreamer need not. All of us can only strive to remain uncontaminated. In the world we must be unworldly, in the theatre the actor must be untheatrical.”

WorldNeedsShouldHumansHeartSoulActorsWorstDangerousTheaterStriveTheatreDesertIronyDreamerHuman SoulDangerous Places
Author:Minnie Maddern Fiske
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“I suppose that Paderewski can play superbly, if not quite at his best, while his thoughts wander to the other end of the world, orpossibly busy themselves with a computation of the receipts as he gazes out across the auditorium. I know a great actor, a master technician, can let his thoughts play truant from the scene.”

IfsKnowsWorldArtEndsPlayActorsMastersGeniusSceneBusyWanderPerformingConcentrationEnd Of The WorldGreat ActorsTechniciansPerforming ArtsComputationReceiptsAuditoriums
Author:Minnie Maddern Fiske
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“Among the most disheartening and dangerous of . . . advisors, you will often find those closest to you, your dearest friends, members of your own family, perhaps, loving, anxious, and knowing nothing whatever . . .”

FriendshipKnowingDangerousDangerMembersAnxietyAnxiousClosestAdvisorsKnowing NothingDishearteningDearest Friend
Book:Mrs. Fiske: Her Views on Actors, Acting, and the Problems of Production
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