Marie Prescott (June 15, 1850 – August 28, 1893) was an American stage actress and playwright. She is best known for starring in and co-producing ''

Vera; or, The Nihilists ''Vera; or, The Nihilists'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. It is a tragedy set in Russia and is loosely based on the life of Vera Zasulich. It was Wilde's first play, and the first to be performed. A draft of the script was completed in 1880 and t ...

'', the first play by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

Early life and career

Prescott was born in 1850 in

Nicholas County, Kentucky Nicholas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,537. Its county seat is Carlisle, which is also the only incorporated community in the county. Founded in 1799, the county is named ...

. She married in 1869 and, between 1870 and 1873, gave birth to three sons, one of whom died in infancy. In 1877, she made her stage debut as

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. She found work in a number of stock companies, appearing alongside such stars as

Lawrence Barrett Lawrence Patrick Barrett (April 4, 1838 – March 20, 1891) was an American stage actor. Barrett began his career in 1853 in Detroit and made his first New York appearance in 1856. Barrett enlisted for the American Civil War in 1862, but resigne ...

and

Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...

, and between 1880 and 1883, toured with the Italian tragedian

Tommaso Salvini Tommaso Salvini (1 January 182931 December 1915) was an Italian actor. Life Salvini was born in Milan to parents who were both actors, his mother being the popular actress Guglielmina Zocchi. Finding the boy had a talent for acting, his father ...

and her own companies. Having obtained a divorce from her first husband in 1881, Prescott married William Perzel, the proprietor of a delicatessen store, and appointed him her manager. In October 1882, Prescott sued the

American News Company American News Company (ANC) was a magazine, newspaper, book, and comic book distribution company founded in 1864 by Sinclair Tousey, which dominated the distribution market in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th ce ...

for publishing provocative stories about her private life, leading to a high-profile court case. She won the case and was awarded $12,500 in damages (), though the judgment was later overturned.

''Vera; or, The Nihilists''

In November 1882, Prescott and Perzel met with the Irish poet Oscar Wilde, who was then touring America with lectures on art and home decoration, to discuss producing his first play, ''Vera; or, The Nihilists'', a tragedy set in Russia. Prescott and Perzel purchased the rights to the play and produced it for the first time at New York's

Union Square Theatre Union Square Theatre was the name of two different theatres near Union Square, Manhattan, New York City. The first was a Broadway theatre that opened in 1870, was converted into a cinema in 1921 and closed in 1936.(8 October 1921)Two landmarks ...

on 20 August 1883 under the title ''Vera; or, The Nihilist''. Josephine Guy has argued that Prescott was not the "compliant collaborator" that she has often been characterised to be, and, though cordial in her dealings with Wilde, was assertive during contract negotiations and discussions about edits to the script. Prescott and Perzel's production was almost universally slated by the press, with the ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...

'' declaring it "little better than fizzle" and the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

'', "long-drawn dramatic rot". The ''

New York Mirror The ''New-York Mirror'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City from ''1823 to 1842''. Founded by George Pope Morris and Samuel Woodworth, it was a prominent publication that focused on literature, the fine arts, and local news. It playe ...

'', in one of the only positive reviews, judged ''Vera'' "a work that takes rank among the highest order of plays", and praised Prescott's performance as "marked by intelligence and faultless elocution". Other reviewers criticised Prescott's acting. Prescott defended the production in an open letter to the press, but ''Vera'' failed to attract an audience and she and Perzel were obliged to withdraw it within a week.

Later career and death

After the collapse of ''Vera,'' Prescott toured with another Nihilistic tragedy, ''Czeka'', which she had written herself. She began co-starring with the wealthy amateur actor R. D. MacLean in 1886. After divorcing Perzel, she married MacLean in 1892 and the pair toured together, appearing in plays by Shakespeare as well as Prescott's own adaptations of ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

'' by

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...

and '' Wormwood'' by

Marie Corelli Mary Mackay (1 May 185521 April 1924), also called Minnie Mackey and known by her pseudonym Marie Corelli (, also , ), was an English novelist. From the appearance of her first novel '' A Romance of Two Worlds'' in 1886, she became a bestselli ...

. Prescott retired from the stage in April 1893 and died in August that year after an unsuccessful operation.Dearinger 2009, pp. 218–219

References

Notes

Works cited

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prescott, Marie 1850 births 1890 deaths 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses People from Nicholas County, Kentucky