Ed(win) James. Biography of Adah Isaacs Menken. With selections from “Infelecia” [sic, i.e. Infelicia]

“Adah Isaacs Menken, the first American Jewish ‘superstar,’ helped pioneer the art of cultivating an outsized, even outrageous, personality as a path to fame and fortune.” (Jewish Virtual Library). Also known as Ada Bertha Théodore and Ada C. McCord (1835-68), Adah Isaacs Menken was an American actress, indeed the highest earning actress of her time. She was best known for her performance in the melodrama Mazeppa, with a climax that apparently featured her nude on stage while riding a horse. After years of great success with the play in New York and San Francisco, she appeared in its production in London and Paris, from 1864-66. Menken also was a passionate writer and a book of her collected poems, from 1855-68 appeared after her death. Menken expressed a wide range of emotions and ideas about a woman’s place in the world. By most accounts, the actress converted to Judaism after marrying her first husband, Alexander Isaac Menken. In this period, she published poetry and articles on Jewish themes in The Israelite in Cincinnati, and the Jewish Messenger of New York.