PORTRAIT OF MARY ANDERSON
Robert O. Skemp, (1910-1984, American)
This portrait depicts Mary Anderson (1859 - 1940), a successful American actress who debuted at the Louisville Theater in 1875 and went on to star in a variety of roles in major playhouses across America and in Europe. Anderson was born in Sacramento, California, but grew up in Louisville.
Known for her exceptional beauty and remarkable voice, Anderson developed an early interest in theater and began taking acting lessons at age thirteen. Following her Louisville debut in the role of Shakespeare’s Juliet, she toured the major cities in the South and West with increasing popularity and appeared in New York City in 1877 as the head of her own acting company. Anderson moved to London in 1883, where she lived and performed for the next six years until retiring from the stage in 1889.
Located in the Mary Anderson Room.
