Woman of the Century/Mercedes Leigh Hearne

MERCEDES LEIGH HEARNE. HEARNE, Miss Mercedes Leigh, actor, was born in Atlanta, Ga., 20th March, 1867. She is widely known by her stage name, Mercedes Leigh, which she chose when she began her professional career. Miss Leigh was born into the changed conditions that followed the Civil War in the South, and her early life was full of the echoes of the great struggle. She was educated in a private school in Philadelphia, Pa. At an early age she developed marked dramatic talent, which was carefully cultivated. Her histrionic powers and her emotional nature fitted her for stage work. She went to England, and while there achieved a brilliant success in London drawing-rooms as a dramatic reader. The critics abroad gave her high rank, and at home she has repeated Tier successes on an even greater scale. Besides her dramatic talents, Miss Leigh is the possessor of poetic talent of a fine order. Her work in verse bears every mark of culture. Her home is now in New York.