Maud Madison was born in San Francisco. She studied at the Boucicault School of Acting in 1889. She performed with Richard Mansfield in Richard the Third (1890?) and toured in acting and dancing troupes. She was influenced by seeing Loie Fuller perform, and went to Paris in 1900 to attempt to get performing engagements during the Exposition. She gave programs of what she called "fancy costume dances" in Paris and then on tour in the United States. She later taught social ballroom dancing in New York City around the time of World War II.
Madison had a daughter, Beatrice [Bonnie?] Maude, who, as a child, occasionally performed with her and later became an actress. She survived her mother, who died in California on October 4, 1953.
From the guide to the Maud Madison papers, 1884-circa 1945, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)
