Mary Shaw

Mary Garland Shaw (January 25, 1854 – May 18, 1929) was an American actress, playwright, suffragist, and early feminist.

Shaw was involved in the women's movement since the early 1890s, and in 1892 she became a member of the Professional Women's League. She played many controversial roles in her career as an actress, and was involved in some of the most controversial plays of her time such as Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts and Hedda Gabler, George Bernard Shaw's (no relation) Mrs. Warren's Profession and many female suffrage plays.

Shaw, along with actress Jessie Bonstelle, designed the Woman's National Theatre in the early twentieth century.

Shaw suffered and eventually died from heart disease. The Cradle Song was her last appearance on stage as a result of the illness.

Actress

Professional Women's League One of the major factors of Shaw's success as a speaker and suffragist was due to her association with clubs that were used to gain wider cultural and social acceptance of different professions. Actresses formed clubs to develop organizational and speaking skills, which later helped Shaw in her work for the women's suffrage movement. The most important actresses’ club was the Professional Women's League, which was founded by actresses and wives of theatrical managers. The charter designated women to join that "engaged in dramatic, musical, and literary pursuits with the purpose of rendering them helpful to each other." The League descended from a larger club, Sorosis, which did not support this new and growing club. There was much disagreement and blackballing of actresses as a result of this split. A main component of the League were the lessons given to young actresses that taught them how to create their own costumes in dressmaking classes.

Shaw decided, after the disapproval of the suffragist movement, to run for president of the League in 1913. She lost by three votes, and many women vowed to never set foot in the club again. When offered a part in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, she turned it down claiming that "it teaches contentment with and resignation to poverty."

Fortunately, other shows had more success. She originated the title character of G.B. Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession and revived the role several times in her life, each time to complimentary reviews. Shaw's role in Mrs. Warren's Profession was very controversial for the undesirable way she acted in a specific scene in the play. It was said by various critics that her character spoke in too much of a low-class tone than what was deemed socially acceptable in performance at that time. received mostly outrage and critical backlash. Despite this response, Shaw successfully produced various plays following the production.

Suffragist Shaw believed that each gender needed to understand the other and "she wished to see more women successfully entering the professional arena in direct competition with men" to create platonic relationships. She secondly married French actor M. de Brissac in 1885.