Faith Dane was born on October 3, 1923. She was an actress, musician, artist and candidate for political offices in the US Virgin Island and Washington DC. She grew up and spent much of her life in New York City, where she played the character Mazeppa in both the original Broadway and theatrical release of Gypsy. Years later, when Gypsy was revised on Broadway without her, she sued the production, claiming that she had created much of the characterization of Mazeppa. Though her lawsuit was unsuccessful, producers developed the Faith Dane Clause in actor’s contracts granting rights in any creative work actors do developing their charter to the production.
Using the arts as her platform, she run for office in the US Virgin Island in 1964, and managed to raise funds for various school art programs there. After moving to Washington DC in the 1980’s she unsuccessfully run a few times for Mayor and other elected offices, also using an arts-based platform. She died on April 7th, at the age of 96 in Washington DC.