DEATH OF A FAVORITE ACTRESS.— The New York papers announce the death on the 22d instant, of a talented comic actress, Mary Gannon. Twenty-seven years ago, she was regarded one of the most fascinating danseuses then on the stage. She pirouetted in Columbia for several seasons, completely turning the heads of the young men. While exhibiting her skill in horsemanship, in our streets, she was thrown and very severely injured, and the night of her re-appearance the old theatre was jammed, and Mary was repeatedly called before the curtain to receive the hearty congratulations of those present. Mary abandoned Terpsichore early in life, and applied herself studiously to the higher branches of the histrionic profession. That she achieved the utmost success is proven by the very complimentary manner in which the papers speak of her—the theatrical critic of the Tribune asserting that “in losing her, the American stage loses the best comic actress of this generation.” Her last appearance on the stage was at Wallack’s, on the 27th of January, and when she laid aside her stage dresses, that night, she said that she should never use them again. She had long known that the end was approaching—that the black curtain was about to fall. She had passed away in the prime of her years and in the fullness of her fame; and she is happy in leaving a name that will often be thought of with a sigh, and that will never be mentioned without a smile.
The Daily Phoenix 2/27/1868. Print.