Maude Adams: Her Life and Career (Thesis)

This is a thesis done in 1976 by Sara Rodeerer. I will point some of the most important aspects of her work.

She starts off talking about Annie Adams, Maude's mother, and how Maude made her first appearance on stage as a baby. She goes on to cover various plays that Maude was in, noting that Maude played both male and female parts in these plays.

She talks about Maude Adams as a regular person who '...became a very shy, private and self-conscious person.' Although Maude could perform in plays she was not comfortable giving speeches.

She notes some of the various critics comments on the plays including one which says, in reference to Maude, '...she was so sincere, clear, and simple in her methods, and plainly intellectual.' It's interesting to note that Maude never became one of those actresses who craved public attention or lived a lavish lifestyle, either. If she was alive today the tabloids would have very little truthful, if anything, to write about her since she avoided scandal and lived a cloistered lifestyle.

One of the things I learned about was that Maude Adams at times made her own costumes.

She then returns to Maude's nature, noting:

'But Maude guarded her privacy diligently, granting no interviews to anyone of the press...She abhorred gossip and never allowed it in her presence..She never went to plays, concerts, or parties, but sought the privacy and sanctity of her home. Her bedroom in fact was the exact model of a convent cell, with only a bed, a chair, and a small lamp.'

The author notes that it was during the run of Quality Street that Maude began to have trouble with her health.

She also fairly points out that some of the critics did not care at all for Maude's acting ability and went with the idea that it was Maude's personality that sustained her popularity and not her acting skills.

The author says that: 'Maude had an uncanny knack for taking unusual parts, parts that others did not want, or could not do, and making them work.' If, as some critics claim, Maude was such a poor actor than how she did she make these unusual parts work?

The author goes with the often-stated belief that Maude was not really an attractive woman. That is something which I strongly disagree with having looked at many photographs taken of her both in and out of plays. Also, if she were so unattractive, why was her portrait one of the best-selling items in the stores of the time?

The thesis does not discuss Maude's post-actress work, however.

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