Emma Dunn

Emma Dunn

1874-02-24 – 1966-12-14 (age 92) Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK
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Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emma Dunn (26 February 1875 – 14 December 1966) was an English character actress on the stage and in motion pictures.

Emma Dunn appeared onstage in her early teens, graduating to the London stage for several years and later became a noted Broadway actress. She appeared in the first American production of Ibsen's Peer Gynt (1906) with Richard Mansfield as Peer. She played Peer's mother, Ase, even though she was, in real life, 20 years younger than Mansfield. She appeared in three productions for theatre impresario David Belasco: The Warrens of Virginia (1907), The Easiest Way (1909) and The Governor's Lady (1912). In The Easiest Way, Dunn portrayed Annie, who was black, in blackface. In 1913 Dunn appeared in vaudeville.

Dunn made her first film in 1914, a silent film of her 1910 stage success, Mother, directed by Maurice Tourneur. This was Tourneur's first American film. Dunn's second film was 1920's Old Lady 31, reprising the role she played in the 1916 Broadway play of the same name. One more silent film followed in 1924, Pied Piper Malone, before she made her talkie debut in Side Street, co-starring the Moore brothers, Matt, Owen and Tom as her sons.

Dunn wrote two books on elocution and speech: Thought Quality in the Voice (1933) and You Can Do It (1947).

Emma Dunn was born 26 February 1875, in Birkenhead, England, although she sometimes gave her year of birth as 1883.

Dunn married Harry Beresford, an actor who was then known professionally as Harry J. Morgan, in Chicago on 4 October 1897. They divorced on 10 February 1909, in New York City. She was awarded sole custody of their young daughter, Dorothy. On 19 May 1909, Dunn married John W. Stokes (John W. S. Sullivan), an actor, playwright and theatrical manager. They subsequently adopted a second daughter, Helen. The couple divorced sometime between 1923 and Stokes' death in 1931.

After suffering a heart attack some months before, Dunn died 14 December 1966, in Los Angeles, California, aged 91.

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Known For

The Great Dictator
The Great Dictator

1940

as Mrs. Jaeckel

Grand Slam
Grand Slam

1933

as Reporter

Waikiki Wedding
Waikiki Wedding

1937

as Mother

Manslaughter
Manslaughter

1930

as Miss Bennett

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Smith

1941

as Martha

I Married a Witch
I Married a Witch

1942

as Wife of Justice of the Peace (uncredited)

Three Loves Has Nancy
Three Loves Has Nancy

1938

as Mrs. Briggs

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

1936

as Mrs. Meredith (uncredited)

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The Harvester

1936

as Granny Moreland

Side Street
Side Street

1929

as Nora O'Farrell

Son of Frankenstein
Son of Frankenstein

1939

as Amelia

The Hoodlum Saint
The Hoodlum Saint

1946

as Maggie

Hideaway
Hideaway

1937

as Emma Peterson

The Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town

1942

as Mrs. Shelley

The Emperor's Candlesticks
The Emperor's Candlesticks

1937

as Anna - Olga's Housekeeper

The Monster and the Girl
The Monster and the Girl

1941

as Aunt Della (uncredited)

Life with Father
Life with Father

1947

as Margaret

It Happened Tomorrow
It Happened Tomorrow

1944

as Mrs. Keaver (uncredited)

Minesweeper
Minesweeper

1943

as Mom Smith

The Cowboy and the Lady
The Cowboy and the Lady

1938

as Ma Hawkins