Maxine Elliott, Stage Star of the Last Century
A Most Successful and Wealthy American Actress
May 20, 2009
Maxine Elliott was a pretty child who was born in Rockland, Maine, on February 5 ,1868, and was christened Jessie Carolyn Dermot. At the age of fifteen she enrolled as a student at the Notre Dame Academy in Roxbury., Massachusetts. Not too long afterward she traveled to New York City to visit friends and here she met a lawyer, George A. MacDermott, who was twice her age. They were married, but the marriage didn't last very long.
Dion Boucicault
Jessie decided to attend Boucicault's acting classes in New York City. Her drama teacher took a great interest in his new student and renamed her Maxine Elliott...a name that would become a household word in America. She became associated with the theatrical company run by A.M. Palmer, and in November, 1890, appeared in The Middleman, her first stage performance.
Augustin Daly Company
After three years with the Palmer company, Maxine decided to change her path and signed up as a member of the famous actress Rose Coghlan's touring company in 1894. The next year she again changed her allegiance, this time joining Augustin Daly's company, and made her debut in London, England, in Two Gentlemen of Verona. She was beginning to make a name for herself because of her beauty and the drawing power of her personality.
Nat Goodwin
Maxine teamed up with the Nat Goodwin company for a tour of Australia, and ended up marrying him in 1898.They toured the United States together for seven years, appearing in such plays as An American Citizen, A Gilded Fool and Nathan Hale, which played to capacity audiences in 1899.
In 1903 Maxine appeared without Goodwin in a play written by Clyde Fitch entitled Her Own Way. This was the vehicle that would make her a star, not only in the United States but also in England. So successful was she that King Edward VII requested a meeting with her.
The Maxine Elliott Theatre
Elliott divorced Goodwin in 1908, and in December of that same year she opened the Maxine Elliott Theatre in New York City, with a performance of The Chaperon. The money behind the theatre was supposedly given by J.P. Morgan. After crossing the Atlantic several times she settled in Hertfordshire, in an estate named Hartsbourne Manor, with her actress sister Gertrude.
She volunteered as a Red Cross nurse in World War I and received several decorations for her untiring efforts. After the war, she appeared in starring roles in The Eternal Magdalene and Fighting Odds.
Last PublicAppearance
She made her last public appearance at her own theatre in February of 1920, and retired from the stage after the run of the play. She lived a sumptuous life, in high society and the International Set. From 1932 she spent her time at her home Chateau de l'Horizon at Cannes on the Riviera. It was here that she died on March 5,1940, and left a legacy of over one million dollars in her will.
Sources
- Famous American Women, ed. by Robert McHenry, Dover Publications Inc.,1980.
- My Aunt Maxine by Diana Forbes-Robinson, Viking Press, January 1964.
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