In her early career, Crosman's career was managed by
Napier Lothian Jr. She got her start in 1883 at the old Windsor Theatre, New York with the assistance of the long-time theatre manager
John A. Ellsler. Her debut role was as Lilly in
Bartley Campbell's
The White Slave. She later toured the country with
Robert L. Downing in classic parts. In 1889 she appeared in her first Shakespeare play,
As You Like It, at
Augustin Daly's theater. During the course of the early 1890s she was managed by
Daniel Frohman and appeared in his
stock company. From 1892 to 1894 her career was managed by Daniel's brother,
Charles Frohman. For a short period during 1891, and in between Frohman brothers, she was under the aegis of
A. M. Palmer. In 1899, Crosman was hired as the Leading Lady for the summer season at the
Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Shows that summer included The Charity Ball, The Senator, and a production of
Cyrano de Bergerac that called for 100 actors. Crosman would return to Elitch Theatre in 1903 for several pre-season performances. By 1900 Crosman was a star and appeared for the first time as such in
Mistress Nell keeping in line with the sort of costume adventures that were becoming her forte. In 1896 she had married
Maurice S. Campbell, then a New York journalist from a wealthy family, and starting in 1902 Campbell produced a number of Broadway productions featuring her, starting with
Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland's "Joan O' the Shoals" in 1902.
Sweet Kitty Bellairs in 1903 was particularly successful, running for 206 performances. Campbell's 1905 version of the
Ibsen play
When We Dead Awaken, starring Crosman, was the first and only production. In 1911, she and her company staged 60 performances of
Catherine Chisholm Cushing's comedy
The Real Thing at the
Maxine Elliott Theatre in New York, before taking the show on the road. In early July 1912, Crosman and company were in
Regina, Saskatchewan following the
Regina Cyclone, and staged a benefit performance of
The Real Thing for the victims. The last Campbell/Crosman production was
The Tongues of Men by
Edward Childs Carpenter in 1913. Several of these plays would be made as films in the silent era played by younger actresses. Now in her forties, Crosman was starting to move away from the strenuous sword-carrying, heavy costume adventures that she was popular in. Much of the remainder of her theatrical career would consist of drawing room comedies and farces, a type of playing that was less hectic for an ageing actress. However, she would return to revivals of Shakespeare, i.e.
The Merry Wives of Windsor, and in
Richard Brinsley Sheridan's
The Rivals. ==Films==