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.
Acted in 95
1940s
- 1948
The Woman in White
Mrs. Vesey
- 1947
Mourning Becomes Electra
Mrs. Borden
- 1946
The Hoodlum Saint
Maggie
- 1944
My Buddy
Mary Ballinger
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Doña Mercedes
- 1943
Minesweeper
Mom Smith
- 1942
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Ma Flanagan
The Postman Didn't Ring
Martha Carter
The Mad Martindales
Agnes
- 1941
Babes on Broadway
Mrs. Williams
Rise and Shine
Mrs. Murray
Ladies in Retirement
Sister Theresa
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
Mrs. Martha Kildare
Scattergood Meets Broadway
Mirandy Baines
Scattergood Pulls the Strings
Mirandy Baines
The Penalty
'Ma' McCormick
The Monster and the Girl
Aunt Della (uncredited)
Scattergood Baines
Mirandy Baines
- 1940
Yesterday's Heroes
Aunt Winnie
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Mrs. Martha Kildare
Dance, Girl, Dance
Mrs. Simpson
One Crowded Night
Ma Matthews
You Can't Fool Your Wife
Mother Fields
Half a Sinner
Granny Gladden
Little Orvie
Mrs. Welty
High School
Mrs. O'Neill
1930s
- 1939
The Llano Kid
Doña Teresa
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
Martha Kildare
Hero for a Day
Emmy "Moms" Higgins
Calling Dr. Kildare
Mrs. Martha Kildare
- 1938
The Duke of West Point
Mrs. West
Thanks for the Memory
Mrs. Platt
Young Dr. Kildare
Mrs. Martha Kildare
Cowboy from Brooklyn
Ma Hardy
Lord Jeff
Mrs. Briggs
- 1937
Madame X
Rose, Fleuriot's Houskeeper
Varsity Show
Mrs. Smith
Hideaway
Emma Peterson
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Anna - Olga's Housekeeper
Circus Girl
Molly
When You're in Love
Mrs. Hamilton
- 1936
Second Wife
Mrs. Brown
The Harvester
Granny Moreland
- 1935
Another Face
Sheila's Mother (uncredited)
Seven Keys to Baldpate
Mrs. Quimby
This Is the Life
Mrs. Davis
Little Big Shot
Orphanage Matron
The Keeper of the Bees
Margaret Campbell
Ladies Crave Excitement
Mrs. Phelan
The Glass Key
'Mom' Madvig
George White's 1935 Scandals
Aunt Jane
- 1934
Flirtation
Mrs. Poole
Dr. Monica
Mrs. Monahan
The Quitter
Cordelia Tilford
Dark Hazard
Mrs. Mayhew
- 1933
A Man of Sentiment
Mrs. John Russell Sr.
It's Great to Be Alive
Mrs. Wilton
Elmer, the Great
Mrs. Kane
Private Jones
Mrs. Jones
Grand Slam
Reporter
Hard to Handle
Mrs. Hawks (uncredited)
- 1932
Blessed Event
Mrs. Roberts
Letty Lynton
Mrs. Darrow
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
Mrs. Sarah Cohen
The Wet Parade
Mrs. Chilcote
Hell's House
Emma Clark
Broken Lullaby
Frau Miller
Under Eighteen
Mrs. Evans (uncredited)
- 1931
The Guilty Generation
Nina Palmero
Compromised
Mrs. Squires
Morals for Women
Mrs. Hutson
Bad Company
Emma
This Modern Age
Margaret Blake
Too Young to Marry
Mrs. Bumpstead
The Bad Sister
Mrs. Madison
The Prodigal
Mrs. Farraday
- 1930
Manslaughter
Miss Bennett
The Texan
Señora Doña Marguerita Granadas-Ibarra
1920s
- 1929
Side Street
Nora O'Farrell
- 1924
Pied Piper Malone
Mother Malone
- 1920
Old Lady 31
Angie Rose