Mary Anderson was born in Sacramento, California, on July 28, 1859; her first part on the stage was as Juliet in Louisville, Kentucky. She played in several Shakespeare plays throughout the United States until she went to London in 1883. Her first part in a Shakespeare play in England was as Juliet in 1884. Other parts were Rosalind in As You Like It at Stratford-on-Avon in 1885 and as both Hermione and Perdita in The Winter's Tale, a successful production that ran for 166 performances at the Lyceum Theatre, London.

She married and retired from the stage in 1890, but returned in 1916 to raise funds for World War I charities. Her last Shakespeare performance was the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet in 1917. She died after a long retirement in May, 1940.