This Limerick-born woman was one of the most famed stage actresses in the world by the end of the 19th century
Shaw, Twain and Wilde ("a brilliant and fascinating genius") were among her admirers
The USS Ada Rehan was named for her

Born as Bridget Crehan, likely on this day 1857

Before and after

Source: https://www.loc.gov/item/2002718779/ @librarycongress

- She was born Bridget Crehan in County Limerick, one of five siblings born to parents Thomas Crehan (died 1890) and Harriet Ryan Crehan (died 1901) on April 22, most probably in 1857

- In one of her early performances, she was mis-billed as "Ada C. Rehan", and the name stuck

- She had acting roles alongside Edwin Booth and another prominent Irish-born actor, John Edward McCullough

- Was associated with theatre manager Augustin Daly for 20 years after starring in a play of his at New York's Grand Opera House along with Fanny Davenport in April 1879

- In his biography of her, contemporary William Winter wrote: "Each part that she has undertaken has been permeated with something of herself... Her soul is given to her profession, and the nature of the woman herself is discerned in that of the character that she represents."

- Rehan and Daly's greatest achievement was likely "The Taming of the Shrew" in 1887, which ran in both New York and London for an initial run of 121 performances, quite a feat for a nineteenth century show

- She was so popular from the 1880s-1890s that she played over 200 parts

- Oscar Wilde apparently wrote the part of Mrs. Erlynne in "Lady Windermere's Fan" with her in mind

- Women everywhere strove to imitate her diction, demeanour, and dresses, a fad that was reported by the Chicago Evening Mail

- Ladies' hats were named for her, and dressmakers offered her their costumes for free in order to get their designs in front of the public (influencer!)

- Rehan was widely admired in both the US and Europe, having acted in Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Stratford-on-Avon

- When she died, newspapers across the US mourned her passing, including a prominent obituary in the @nytimes https://www.nytimes.com/1916/01/09/archives/ada-rehan.html

- Daly modelled his theatre masthead, a depiction of Comedy, after Rehan

- She was the model for a solid silver statue of Justice that was presented as part of the State of Montana's mining exhibition at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/d/furness/ft_pre600_9_m

More than 25 years after Ada Rehan's death, a World War II Liberty ship was named after her, the USS Ada Rehan https://www.flickr.com/photos/chartrain/8627089755

Ada Rehan in the Met, as painted by John Singer Sargent between 1894 and 1895 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12026

Version 2 (better skin tone on right hand)