Woman of the Century/Margaret Mather

MATHER, Margaret, actor, born in Tilbury, near Montreal, Canada, in 1862. She is of Scotch descent. In 1868 her family left Canada and settled in Detroit, Mich. Margaret went to New York City to live with one of her brothers, MARGARET MATHER. who offered to educate her. She passed through the public schools, and her brother died in 1880, leaving her dependent upon herself for a living. Having become inspired with the desire to go on the stage, she studied with George Edgar. She made her debut as Cordelia in "King Lear," and she soon attracted the attention of Manager J. M. Hill, who made a contract with her for a six-year engagement. She at once went under instruction, and for twenty-one months she received the best of training in every line of stage business from dancing to elocution. She opened her career with Mr. Hill, as Juliet, 28th August, 1882, in McVicker's Theater, in Chicago, and her success was instantaneous. She then played in the principal cities, and in 1885, on 16th October, appeared in the Union Square Theater, in New York City, in her famous role of Juliet. Her season of seventeen weeks was played to crowded houses. She has worked and studied diligently, and her repertory includes Rosalind, Imogen, Lady Macbeth, Leah, Julia, Lady Gay Spanker, Peg Woftington, Mary Stuart, Gilbert's Gretchen, Pauline. Juliana, Barbier's Joan of Arc, Nance Oldfield, Constance and Medea. She is constantly adding new attractions to her list, and her artistic growth is substantial. While playing under Mr. Hill's management she became the wife, in 1887, of Emil Haberkorn, the leader of the Union Square Theater orchestra. Soon after her marriage she severed her relations with her manager, and since then she has been playing with a company of her own.