FANNY DAVENPORT
The actress inquires about the status of a check she sent in payment of a libel judgment
Autograph Letter signed: "Fanny Davenport", 2 pages (front and verso), 6x9. Portland, Oregon, 1893 December 29. On letterhead of The Portland hotel to "My dear Mr. Reardon", in full: "I have been expecting to hear from you and receive an acknowledgement of the check last sent you. Please let me know also just how we now stand & what you did at Duxbury [?]. I enclose $5.00 check and [?] to use at Denver where I am the week of 18th January. Yours very truly". London-born American actress Fanny Davenport, educated in Boston, made her New York stage debut in Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady (1862). Davenport, who later had her own theatre company, was especially known for the plays of Victorien Sardou, including Fedora (1883) and Cleopatra (1890), playing roles originated in Europe by Sarah Bernhardt. She was the daughter of famed actor Edward Loomis Davenport, the brother of Broadway thespian Harry Davenport, and the mother of D. W. Griffith actress Dorothy Davenport. Both of her husbands were also actors. She died in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Davenport was successfully sued for libel in a Minneapolis courtroom (1890), after posting a newspaper notice alleging misconduct by two theatre owners there. Normal mailing folds. Cut across lower mailing fold (letter is in two pieces). Worn. Toned. Light nicks and tears at edges. Otherwise, fine condition.