Maude Adams (born November 11, 1872; died July 17, 1953) was an American stage actress, most noted for her signature role, Peter Pan. While the title "Best Actress of Her Day" almost indisputably belongs to Ethel Barrymore, Maude Adams was without a doubt its most beloved and most successful. To her legions of adoring fans she was best known as Maudie.

Little to nothing is known of Adams' father, John Kiskadden. He died in 1878 when Maude was only six. It has been written that he came to Utah from Montana, and that the Kiskaddens originated in Ohio. He was not a Mormon, and Adams herself once wrote of her father as having been “a gentile.”

Most of what is known of her ancestry traces through her maternal grandmother, Julia Ann Read more...

After touring in Boston and California, she made her New York City debut at age 16 as a member of E. H. Sothern's theatre company. She became a member of Charles H. Hoyt's stock company. In 1889, The powerful producer Charles Frohman then took control of her career. He requested David Belasco and Henry C. de Mille to specially write the part of Dora Prescott for her in their new 1890 play Men and Read more...