Harrison Grey Fiske

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Harrison Grey Fiske
New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma materNew York University
Occupation(s)Journalist, playwright, theatre manager, Broadway producer
Organizations
Known forDisrupting the monopoly of the Theatrical Syndicate
Notable work
Spouse
Minnie Maddern Fiske

Harrison Grey Fiske (July 30, 1861 – September 2, 1942) was an American journalist, playwright and Broadway producer who fought against the monopoly of the Theatrical Syndicate, a management company that dominated American stage bookings around the turn of the twentieth century.

Life and career

Fiske was born in

Dr. Chapin's Collegiate School for Boys, a college preparatory school on Madison Avenue where he continued to pursue writing. Upon finishing there, he traveled for a summer in Europe and then entered New York University in 1878.[2] There he was asked to sign a pledge to forsake dens of iniquity like theaters, taverns, dance halls, and billiard rooms. Fiske subsequently admitted that he and his friends kept their fingers crossed when it came to attending theaters.[3][4]

At college, Fiske often wrote short stories and sketches for magazines and soon became an editorial writer and dramatic critic for the daily newspaper the Jersey City Argus. He later served in a similar capacity for the New York Star, which set the stage in 1879 for what would turn out to be a 32-year affiliation with the popular trade magazine the New York Dramatic Mirror. After achieving success as a contributor to the Dramatic Mirror, Fiske decided to leave college after his freshman year with hopes of becoming a journalist. At his behest, Fiske's father bought an interest in the Dramatic Mirror, and made his son (then eighteen) the editor. In 1883 Fiske assumed a controlling interest in the Mirror and by 1888 was sole owner of the Mirror Newspaper Company.

With an inside look into the theatrical profession, Fiske's view of the arts changed dramatically. He was continually distressed by the plight of out-of-work actors and by the "laissez-faire practices of the American stage."

Minnie Maddern, as well as the likes of David Belasco, Sarah Bernhardt and the Shubert family staged a coup on the Theatrical Syndicate, helping to break the stranglehold they had maintained on theater bookings from coast to coast.[4]

Poster for The Privateer

In 1901 Fiske leased the Manhattan Theatre on Thirty-Third Street as a showcase for his wife and as a venue for other artists. The theater became home to the "Manhattan Company" whose players included the well-known actors Tyrone Power Sr., George Arliss and John B. Mason.

Over the course of his career, Fiske produced more than 140 plays, many of which he wrote or directed including Hester Crewe (1893), The Privateer (1903), and The Queen of Liars (1896) adapted from a play by

Edward Knoblauch’s Kismet starring Otis Skinner.[4][6]

Marriage

On March 19, 1890, Harrison Fiske married actress

Minnie Maddern at Larchmont Manor. He first saw her when at the age of twelve he attended a local production of King John in which his eight-year-old future bride played a boy’s part. Their paths crossed once again a few years later, but were not formally introduced until she was nearly twenty. Mrs. Fiske, as she was often professionally known, appeared in a number of plays directed by her husband, including Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Salvation Neil, Becky Sharp and Mary of Magdala. The two remained together until her death in 1932.[4][7]

Death

Fiske died at the age of 81, as a result of a heart attack suffered at his New York apartment on West Sixty-Six Street. He had retired around the time of his wife's death and was working on his memoirs at the time of his passing.[4]

References

  1. ^ Reed, William Fields (1900). The Descendants of Thomas Durfee of Portsmouth, R.I. Washington, D. C.: Gibson Bros. pp. 485. Retrieved May 27, 2012. The Descendants of Thomas Durfee of Portsmouth, R.I.
  2. ^ Hanaford, Harry Prescot and Dixie Hines, ed. (1914). Who's Who in Music and Drama: an Encyclopedia of Biography of Notable Men and Women in Music and Drama. New York: Hanaford. pp. 12.
  3. ^ 1870 US Census Records
  4. ^ a b c d e The New York Times September 4, 1942
  5. ^ "Harrison Grey Fiske". Dictionary of American Biography. Gale Biography In Context. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1973. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. ^ Masters of Achievement: The World's Greatest Leaders in Literature, Art ... By Press Company 2004 pg. 627
  7. ^ The New York Times March 20, 1890

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the

New International Encyclopedia
(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

External links

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