Clara Fisher (1811-1898) as a child, playing Richard III. Date: 1818.

The acting career of this child prodigy lasted 72 years. At age five her father sent her to an acting class. She first performed in public on December 10, 1817 at the Drury Lane Theatre in David Garrick's Lilliput, where she "astonished the audience with her great talent". She then went on to Covent Garden. As a teenager she played Richard III and Shylock. In 1827 she emigrated to the United States, appearing at the Park Theatre to enthusiastic reviews which continued in every city where she performed. She electrified audiences with her portrayals of Ophelia and Viola. As a result of this "Clara Fisher craze" poems were written about her and her name was given to babies, hotels, stagecoaches, race horses, and even steamboats. (data from: Autobiography of Clara Fisher Maeder, via Wikipedia) Such child performers have always been popular, from Elizabethan schoolboys down to Rafe Esquith's Hobart Players, at an East Los Angeles primary school. Photomechanical print: Publisher: W.J. Collins. "Portraits of Actors, 1720-1920": University of Illinois Theatrical Print Collection: for educational use only.