[3] The 1901 book Players of the Present opined that "since the beginning of the season of 1885-86 she has been constantly before the public more or less prominently as a star," reporting her first success was the role of Annie Meadows in Robert Buchanan's Alone in London (playing the role from 1884 to 1888), and then in 1888 in the same author's play Fascination.

As typical of a stage star of her day, her personal life was occasionally news fodder, including her public divorce from Colonel William E. Sinn, a Brooklyn theatre manager.

In 1899, reports ran that she almost died from eating poisoned candy that was left at her hotel by a messenger.

In 1903, Tanner married Charles S. Reed in New York, and public coverage of her essentially ceased.

[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Tanner died in March 1945 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at a reported age of 84.