Fanny Januschek
(1830-1904)

"…a short, rather stockily built woman… Her eyes were of hazel-gray, large and weary-lidded, but when they sudden opened, it was the unmasking of a battery." Otis Skinner

Janauschek, Fanny [Francesca Romana Magdalena] (1830-1904) Tempestuous Czech-born actress who made her debut at the age of 16 at the Royal Theatre of Prague, and two years later was engaged as the leading actress at the State Theatre, Frankfurt, where she remained for ten years. Following this reign as an internationally renowned tragedienne, she made her American debut in 1867 in New York as Medea, which she performed in German with the English speaking company that she brought with her from the continent. This choice of role for her debut invited comparison with Ristori, who had recently triumphed in the part, and the comparisons where not all together favorable for the newcomer. Nevertheless, she soon developed a loyal following. The following season in 1868, she acted opposite Edwin Booth as Lady Macbeth, again in German to Booth’s English. After a year devoted to learning the language, she made her English-speaking career in 1870. Thereafter most of her career was spent in America. With her emotional power and vibrant but controlled voice, she excelled in heroic roles like Brunhilde, Deborah, Mary Stuart and later Meg Marrilies. She was also popular in the dual roles of the coquettish French maid and the haughty Lady Dedlock in Chesney Wold (beased on Dicken’s Bleak House. She was one of the last great actresses in the ‘grand style’, but ended her career (after 1898) playing melodramas.