Maude Adams

The Girl Who Grew up to become Peter Pan

Aug 9, 2006 Mary Trotter Kion

Actress Maude Adams began her career at age nine months. She became the most noted and acclaimed child actress on the West Coast in the mid 1800's.

Maude Adams made her acting debut in 1873 at the tender age of nine months old. She had not originally been cast in the part of a baby in the play The Lost Child, in which her mother, Annie, had the female lead. The infant who had the part became fussy during the performance and could not continue. For the remainder of the season, Maude continued to play all of the infant roles in the plays her mother's theatrical company performed.

Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden was born on November 1, 1872, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although her mother was an actress her father worked for a bank and in the mines. In spite of Maude's infant success, her father did not want his only daughter to become a professional actor. But the child's pixie-like persuasion swayed her father.

First Real Acting Role

At the age of five Maude secured her first acting role. The character she played was Little Schneider in the play Fritz. The role called for her to speak nearly one hundred lines, all of which she memorized in a few days. Soon, after numerous critic acclaims, she was being billed on the programs as "Little Maudie." In no time, she was the "reigning child actress" on the Pacific Coast.

Belasco Manages Child Star Maude Adams

In time, the man known as the "greatest American stage manager of all time," David Belasco, had taken Maude under his theatrical care and became her manager. He later wrote that after meeting the child for the first time he was aware that she had a magnetism about her.

Childhood Roles Shortened by Growth

Like all children, Maude continued to grow. By the age of ten it was obvious that she could no longer play small children's parts any longer although she retained her sweet pixyish looks. Her mother decided, in 1882, that it was time that her daughter took a rest from acting. Maude was enrolled in the Presbyterian Collegiate Institute in Salt Lake City. But still the theater and acting was near at hand. At this school she studied drama and theatrical production, as well as learning to play the harp and speak French.

Maude Adams: The Girl Who Grew up to become Peter Pan continues with: Maude Adams Returns to the Stage: New York, Here She Comes.

Recommended Reading:

New Peter Pan Benefits:In April 1929, James M. Barrie donated the copyright and all subsequent royaltees of Peter Pan to the now 156 year old facility to help pay for research and treatment for children. The hospital was the first inpatient facility in the U.K. to treat only children. The amount of money raised through this effort is a secret per Mr. Barrie's will.

The copyright of the article Maude Adams in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish Maude Adams in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.