Fanny Davenport was the daughter of the late Edgar L. Davenport, one of the best-known and most versatile actors of a past generation on the American stage. Her mother was Fanny Elizabeth Vining, daughter of the manager of the Haymarket Theater, London. She was born in the English metropolis April 10, 1850.
Her childhood was largely spent in Boston, and her first appearance on the stage was as the child in “Metamora,” at the Howard Athenaeum in that city, then managed by her father. Subsequently, she acted at the Little Tremon Theater, Boston, and in the south, where she played soubrette parts for a season. Then she appeared as “Stalacta” in the “Black Crook.” Under the management of Mrs. John Drew she acted at the Arch Street Theater, Philadelphia.
Augustin Daly saw her in Philadelphia and engaged her for the Fifth Avenue Theatre, which he then managed. For nearly ten years she was his star, playing in a long list of parts.
Evening Star 9/30/1898: 14. Print.