PARA PAR@ ` ZTEXT ` LFisher, Clara1811╨1898actorBorn in England, probably in London, on July 14, 1811, Clara Fisher made her stage debut in December 1817, at the age of six, in a children╒s adaptation of David Garrick╒s Lilliput at the Drury Lane Theatre. Her performance in that and in an afterpiece of excerpts from Richard III captivated the audience. She subsequently appeared at Covent Garden and then began a ten-year period of touring up and down Great Britain, winning popular acclaim in a variety of child╒s and adult╒s roles. Fisher came to America in 1827 and made her debut at the Park Theatre, New York City, in September in The Will. Despite the weakness of the play she was a sensation, and in appearances in leading theaters in virtually every major American city over the next seven years she only added to her popular success. Her characterizations of both male and female roles were imbued with a buoyant spirit and great charm. In the craze of adulation that attended her, her name was given to babies, race horses, stagecoaches, and steamboats, and she was generally esteemed the leading actress of the American stage. After her marriage in December 1834 to James G. Maeder, an Irish musician, she continued to act, but less frequently and increasingly seldom as a star. She was the Singing Witch in the performance of Macbeth that was the occasion of the Astor Place riot of May 10, 1849. In later years she played with various stock companies, including those of Mrs. John Drew╒s Arch Street Theatre and of Augustin Daly. At various times she taught dramatics and elocution. She played the Nurse in the Maurice Barrymore╨Helena Modjeska production of Romeo and Juliet that closed Booth╒s Theatre, New York City, in April 1883. Her last performance was at Ford╒s Theatre, Baltimore, in 1889. She died in Metuchen, New Jersey, on November 12, 1898. vstyl ` ! ¬ 5¬ 5¬ !I ╦ !I ╙ !I . !I 9 !I 5¬ !I r !I z !I 5 !I < !I h !I ▐ w !I å !I û !I link ` HYPR h w
