49 Inspiring Vintage Photos of Extraordinary Women

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Playing Peter Pan, Maude Adams (1904)

Fineart America

Long before Bobby Driscoll, Robin Williams, Jeremy Sumpter, Levi Miller, and even Kelly Macdonald lured children out of bedroom windows and led the Lost Boys of Neverland, Maude Adams was the first to play Peter Pan. The American actress Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden landed the role in the 1905 Broadway production of J. M. Barrie’s novel about The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. Only days after she got the part though, Maude had an emergency appendectomy that almost prevented her from assuming the role, but she made a full recovery and successfully played the part on Broadway for a decade. She even co-designed the Peter Pan collar that became a huge fashion hit.

Aside from Peter Pan, Maude also starred in many of J.M. Barrie’s other plays, including The Little Minister, Quality Street, What Every Woman Knows, and her last Broadway play, A Kiss for Cinderella. Maude’s personality and skill appealed to a large audience, turning her into the most popular and highest-paid performer of her day.