In 1902, newspapers reported what they called an “epidemic” of sudden illness and nervous collapse among some of the most celebrated actresses of the day.
The suspected cause was exhaustion. These women were being pushed through grueling performance schedules, expected to appear night after night, even when their bodies were already beginning to fail.
Managers, according to the report, were blamed for driving the stars beyond their limits. Rather than cancel performances and return ticket money, they allegedly kept actresses on stage until collapse became unavoidable. By then, it was not just one night’s performance that was lost, but sometimes an entire tour.
The list of affected women read like a roll call of theatrical fame: Maud Hobson fainting unconscious in her dressing room, Lulu Glaser too weak to walk to her carriage, Julia Marlowe’s tour abandoned, Maude Adams returning from Europe in broken health, and Blanche Walsh described as a physical wreck.
Even international legends such as Eleonora Duse, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, and Sarah Bernhardt were drawn into the grim account of women whose art, fame, and public demand came at a punishing cost.
Famous Actresses are Breaking Down
An epidemic of sudden sickness and nervous breakdown has broken out among the most famous actresses in the United States. The cause is said to be overwork, superinduced by the exactions of managers.
To avoid returning patrons’ money, the managers, it is charged, require the stars to appear in more performances than they are physically able to give, and, when the breakdown begins, keep them playing to the last possible date. Then the star’s strength gives way entirely and not only performances, but whole tours have to be canceled.
Miss Maud Hobson, called the “Saxon Beauty,” was found unconscious in her dressing room the other day, just before it was time for her to go on. A physician worked over her 10 minutes before she was brought out of the fainting fit. Miss Hobson had been playing in Weedon Crossmith’s Company, presenting “The Night of the Party.” She enlisted as a nurse during the Boer War and received a medal for bravery in South Africa.
Miss Lulu Glaser was taken suddenly ill just before a performance of “Dolly Varden” in Baltimore. She made a heroic effort to reach a carriage, but could not walk.
The Academy theater, Baltimore, was dark all last week because of the abandonment of Julia Marlowe’s tour in “The Queen Fiametta.” Miss Marlowe is prostrated.
Mme. Eleanor Duse and Mrs. Patrick Campbell, famous exponents of Italian and English drama, have lately collapsed while playing to American audiences. Maude Adams has arrived from Europe so broken in health that all dates for her winter tour have been canceled. Blanche Walsh is reported a physical wreck. Sara Bernhardt was recently reported on the verge of insanity, moping in her bedroom for days at a time and calling on death to save her from old age.
Source: The Spokane Press. Spokane, Wash. November 13, 1902.
