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Madge Kennedy

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Madge Kennedy
Kennedy, ca. 1916
Born(1891-04-19)April 19, 1891
DiedJune 9, 1987(1987-06-09) (aged 96)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1912–1976
Spouses
Harold Bolster
(m. 1918; died 1927)
William B. Hanley Jr.
(m. 1939; died 1959)

Madge Kennedy (April 19, 1891 – June 9, 1987) was a stage, film and television actress whose career began as a stage actress in 1912 and flourished in motion pictures during the silent film era. In 1921, journalist Heywood Broun described her as "the best farce actress in New York".[1]

Early years

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Kennedy was born in Chicago.[2] Her father was a judge in a criminal court.[3] After she and her family lived in California,[2] she moved to New York City with her mother to paint. She studied two years at the Art Students League, planning to be an illustrator.[4] Luis Mora saw her art work and recommended that she go to Siasconset (in Nantucket, Massachusetts) for a summer.

Career

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Theater

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The Siasconset colony was evenly divided among actors and artists, and painters often gave theatrical performances.

Kennedy appeared in a skit written by Kenneth and Roy Webb[5] and impressed professional Harry Woodruff, who commented, "She could act rings around anybody."[citation needed] As a result, she was offered the lead opposite Woodruff in The Genius.[6] Soon she was in Cleveland, where Robert McLaughlin gave her work with his stock company.[5]

Kennedy first appeared on Broadway in Little Miss Brown (1912),[7] a farce in three acts presented at the 48th Street Theater. Critics found Kennedy's performance most pleasing, writing, "Miss Kennedy's youth, good looks, and marked sense of fun helped her to make a decidedly favorable impression last night."[citation needed] That same year she appeared in The Point of View.[7]

1914 saw her in the popular Twin Beds,[7] and in 1915 she scored a sensational hit at the Eltinge Theater as Blanny Wheeler opposite John Cumberland in Avery Hopwood's classic farce, Fair and Warmer,[7] which ran 377 performances. Critic Louis Vincent DeFoe wrote, "Madge Kennedy proves anew that consummate art is involved even in farcical acting."[citation needed] In the late Teens she would leave the stage for three years to appear in moving pictures for Samuel Goldwyn (see "Films" below).

Caricature by Ralph Barton, 1925

Kennedy returned to the New York stage in November 1920, playing in Cornered,[7] staged at the Astor Theatre. Produced by Henry Savage, the play, taken from the writing of Dodson Mitchell, offered Kennedy a dual role.

In 1923, she starred opposite W.C. Fields in Poppy, where she enjoyed top billing. In the comedy, Beware of Widows (1925),[7] which was produced at Maxine Elliott Theatre, a reviewer for The New York Times noted, once again, Kennedy's physical beauty as well as her skill as a comedian.

Caricature of Madge Kennedy by actress Ruth Hammond for Manuel Rosenberg, 1925

Later, she starred in Philip Barry's Paris Bound (1927) and in Noël Coward's Private Lives (1931),[7] having succeeded Gertrude Lawrence.[2]

After an absence of 33 years, she returned to Broadway in August 1965, appearing with her good friend Ruth Gordon in Gordon and Kanin's A Very Rich Woman.[7]

Films

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Frank Morgan and Madge Kennedy in a publicity still for the 1917 silent comedy Baby Mine.









In 1917, Sam Goldwyn of Goldwyn Pictures signed Kennedy to a film contract. She starred in 21 five-reel films,[2] such as Baby Mine (1917), Nearly Married (1917), Our Little Wife (1918), The Service Star (1918) and Dollars and Sense (1920).

Kennedy told a reporter in 1916, "I have discovered that one of the best ways to act is to make your mind as vacant as possible."[citation needed] In 1918, Our Little Wife premiered with Kennedy playing the role of Dodo Warren. The story is about a woman whose marriage is both humorous and sad. The screenplay was adapted from a comedy by Avery Hopwood.

A Perfect Lady (1918) was released in December and was taken from a stage play by Channing Pollock and Rennold Wolf. Kennedy co-starred with James Montgomery. In 1923, she starred in The Purple Highway. The screenplay is an adaptation of the stage play Dear Me, written by Luther Reed and Hale Hamilton.

The 1920s were a productive period for Kennedy. Following The Purple Highway, she had prominent roles in Three Miles Out (1924), Scandal Sheet (1925), Bad Company (1925), Lying Wives (1925), Oh, Baby! (1926), and Walls Tell Tales (1928).

She was out of motion pictures until she resumed her career in The Marrying Kind (1952)[2] and Main Street to Broadway (1953).

In the late 1950s, she combined TV work with roles in movies like The Rains of Ranchipur (1955), The Catered Affair (1956), Lust for Life (1956),[2] Houseboat (1958), A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed (1958), Plunderers of Painted Flats (1959), and North by Northwest (1959).[2] She has an uncredited part as a secretary in the Marilyn Monroe film Let's Make Love (1960).

Her film career endured into the 1970s with roles in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), The Baby Maker (1970), The Day of the Locust (1975), and Marathon Man (1976).[2]

Radio and television

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As a guest on the Red Davis series (1934) over NBC Radio and WJZ (WABC-AM) network, Kennedy worked with Burgess Meredith who had the title role. She was written into the full script by the program's creator, Elaine Sterne Carrington.

Kennedy was prolific in terms of her television appearances beginning with an episode of the Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1954). Her additional performances in television series are Studio 57 (1954), General Electric Theater (1954), Science Fiction Theater (1955), The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1960), The Best of the Post (1961), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956–1961), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), The Twilight Zone (1963), and CBS Playhouse (1967). She also had a semi-recurring role as Theodore Cleaver's Aunt Martha on the hit family sitcom Leave it to Beaver (1957–63). She played June Cleaver's aunt and the Beaver's great-aunt. Ms. Kennedy also appeared as Mimi (the wife of Albert, Felix's grandfather played by Tony Randall) in The Odd Couple (1972).

Producing

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Kennedy and her husband, Harold Bolster (who had been an executive with Goldwyn), formed Kenma Corporation, a film production company. Kenma made The Purple Highway (1923) and Three Miles Out (1924), both of which starred Kennedy but had little success.[2]

Personal life and death

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In 1959, with silent screen star Jack Mulhall in publicity photo for Goodyear Theater

Kennedy's contract with Goldwyn ended in 1921.[2] She decided to return to the stage so that she could be close to her husband, broker Harold Bolster, in New York. Bolster died on August 3, 1927, from an illness he contracted months before during a business trip to South America. He was a member of the New York banking firm of Bennett, Bolster & Coghill. Bolster was 38 and a veteran of World War I. Kennedy inherited more than $500,000 when he died.

She wed William B. Hanley Jr., in Kingman, Arizona, on August 13, 1934. Hanley was an actor and radio personality. The couple resided in Los Angeles, California. Kennedy retired temporarily after her marriage before returning to work in entertainment. The couple would remain married until Hanley's death in 1959.

She enjoyed outdoor activities such as playing golf, horseback riding and driving cars. She owned a Willys-Knight Great Six which she drove avidly at the time she was touring in 1929 in the play, Lulu. In August 1929, she was sued in a Norwich, Connecticut, court for damages she caused in a car accident on the Boston Post Road near Groton, Connecticut, in June 1928. The plaintiffs asked for $13,000.[8]

Madge Kennedy died of respiratory failure[9] at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital[2] in Woodland Hills, California, in 1987. She was 96.

Recognition

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Kennedy has a star at 1600 Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.[10]

The Kingdom of Youth (1918)
Advertisement for Leave it to Susan (1919).











Filmography

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Silent

Year Title Role Notes
1917 Baby Mine Zoie
Nearly Married Betty Griffon
1918 Our Little Wife Dodo Warren Lost film
The Danger Game Clytie Rogers
The Fair Pretender Sylvia Maynard
The Service Star Marilyn March Lost film
Friend Husband Dorothy Dean
Stake Uncle Sam to Play Your Hand Short
The Kingdom of Youth Ruth Betts
A Perfect Lady Lucille Le Jambon, aka Lucy Higgins
1919 Day Dreams Primrose Lost film
Daughter of Mine Rosie Mendelsohn / Lady Diantha
Leave It to Susan Susan Burbridge Lost film
Through the Wrong Door Isabel Carter Lost film
Strictly Confidential Fanny O'Gorman Incomplete
1920 The Blooming Angel Floss
Dollars and Sense Hazel Farron Extant; Library of Congress
The Truth Becky Warder
Help Yourself Emily Ray Lost film
1921 The Highest Bidder Sally Raeburn Lost film
The Girl with the Jazz Heart Kittie Swasher / Miriam Smith
Oh Mary Be Careful Mary Meacham Extant Library of Congress
1923 The Purple Highway April Blair Lost film
1924 Three Miles Out Molly Townsend
1925 Scandal Street Sheila Kane Lost film
Bad Company Gloria Waring Lost film
Lying Wives Margery Burkley Incomplete film
1926 Oh, Baby! Dorothy Brennan Lost film
1928 Walls Tell Tales Short

Talkies

Year Title Role Notes
1952 The Marrying Kind Judge Anne B. Carroll
1953 Main Street to Broadway Mrs. Cope in Fantasy Sequence
1955 The Rains of Ranchipur Mrs. Smiley
1956 Three Bad Sisters Martha Craig
The Catered Affair Mrs. Joe Halloran
Lust for Life Anna Cornelia Van Gogh
1958 Houseboat Mrs. Farnsworth
A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed Grace Havens
1959 Plunderers of Painted Flats Mary East
North by Northwest Mrs. Finlay, US Intelligence Agency official Uncredited
1960 Let's Make Love Miss Manners, Clement's Secretary Uncredited
1969 They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Mrs. Laydon
1970 The Baby Maker Tish's Grandmother
1975 The Day of the Locust Mrs. Johnson
1976 Marathon Man Lady in Bank

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1954 Lux Video Theatre Ma Glover Season 4 Episode 23: "Borrowed Life"
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Clara Matheson Season 4 Episode 1: "The Secret"
The Lineup Victim's Mother Season 1 Episode 8: "Cop Killer"
Studio 57 Grandmother Season 1 Episode 14: "Christmas Every Day"
1955 General Electric Theater Henrietta Mallory Season 3 Episode 36: "Star in the House"
Climax! Season 1 Episode 28: "The Dark Fleece"
Science Fiction Theatre Mrs. Canby Season 1 Episode 28: "The Unexplored"
1956 The Ford Television Theatre Helen Quade Season 5 Episode 6: "Sometimes It Happens"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Laura Crabtree Season 1 Episode 27: "Help Wanted"
1957-63 Leave It to Beaver Aunt Martha Bronson 5 episodes
1958 Official Detective Miss Greenville Season 1 Episode 34: "Murder in a Girls School"
1959 Goodyear Theatre Birdie Season 2 Episode 15: "I Remember Caviar"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Laura Crabtree Season 4 Episode 34: "A True Account"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Mrs. Barnes Season 5 Episode 14: "Graduating Class"
1960 The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp Mary Rowland Season 5 Episode 26: "Don't Get Tough with a Sailor"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Mrs. Carter Season 6 Episode 10: "Sybilla"
1961 The Best of the Post Mrs. Bedenbaugh Season 1 Episode 10: "Carnival of Fear"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Mrs. Baldwin Season 6 Episode 26: "Coming, Mama"
1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Mrs. MacFarlane Season 1 Episode 2: "Don't Look Behind You"
1967 CBS Playhouse Mrs. Flagler Season 1 Episode 2: "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
1968 Julia Lady Employer Season 1 Episode 4: "Homework Isn't Housework"
1972 The Odd Couple Mimi Season 2 Episode 18: "Where's Grandpa?"

References

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  1. ^ Broun, Heywood (January 8, 1921). "The Play of the Week". Collier's. pp. 15, 23. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Slide, Anthony (2010). Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 193–197. ISBN 978-0-8131-3745-2. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  3. ^ "Musical and Dramatic Review of Week". The Winnipeg Tribune. December 31, 1910. p. 12. Retrieved June 24, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Actress by Accident". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 29, 1912. p. 29. Retrieved June 24, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Discovering Madge Kennedy". Cosmopolitan. LVIII (1): 200–201. December 1914. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  6. ^ Lowrey, Carolyn (1920). The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen. Moffat, Yard. p. 94. Retrieved June 24, 2018. Madge Kennedy.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Madge Kennedy". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  8. ^ "Madge Kennedy Is Sued $13,000". San Mateo Times, August 31, 1929, p. 8.
  9. ^ "Madge Kennedy Dies; A Film and Stage Star". The New York Times. June 13, 1987. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  10. ^ "Madge Kennedy". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  • "What Los Angeles Is Doing To Love". Atlanta Constitution. August 7, 1921. p. 49.
  • "Actress Uses Tonneau Of Car As Dressing Room". Fresno Bee. October 16, 1929. p. 13.
  • "Usual Variety Of Pictures On View". Los Angeles Times. July 22, 1923. p. III27.
  • "Mate Dies As She Speeds Toward Him". Los Angeles Times. August 4, 1927. p. A1.
  • "Altar Trip Of Actress Disclosed". Los Angeles Times. August 27, 1934. p. 1.
  • "Hedda Hopper; Madge Kennedy on Stage Again". Los Angeles Times. August 18, 1965. p. D12.
  • "Madge Kennedy Is Guest Star". Lowell Sun. October 3, 1934. p. 83.
  • "Much That Is Funny In This New Farce". The New York Times. August 30, 1912. p. 9.
  • "The Story Of Madge Kennedy". The New York Times. February 6, 1916. p. X6.
  • "Written On The Screen". The New York Times. February 10, 1918. p. 51.
  • "Written On The Screen". The New York Times. December 1, 1918. p. 76.
  • "The Play". The New York Times. December 2, 1925. p. 22.
  • "Madge Kennedy to Play Here". New York Times. November 29, 1923. p. 23.
  • Sharrar, Jack Frederick (1998). Avery Hopwood, His Life and Plays. University of Michigan Press. pp. 84–88. ISBN 978-0472109630.
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