About

Known credits:
95
Birthday:
1874-02-24
Place of birth:
Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK
Website:
N/A

Emma Dunn

Overview

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.

Known for

Acting

1948 The Woman in White Actor Mrs. Vesey 58
Average
1947 Mourning Becomes Electra Actor Mrs. Borden 59
Average
1947 Life with Father Actor Margaret 59
Average
1946 The Hoodlum Saint Actor Maggie 58
Average
1944 My Buddy Actor Mary Ballinger N/A
N/A
1944 Are These Our Parents? Actor Ma Henderson N/A
N/A
1944 It Happened Tomorrow Actor Mrs. Keaver (uncredited) 59
Average
1944 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Actor Doña Mercedes 58
Average
1943 Minesweeper Actor Mom Smith 58
Average
1943 Hoosier Holiday Actor Molly Baker N/A
N/A
1942 I Married a Witch Actor Wife of Justice of the Peace (uncredited) 61
Fair
1942 The Talk of the Town Actor Mrs. Shelley 61
Fair
1942 The Postman Didn't Ring Actor Martha Carter N/A
N/A
1942 The Mad Martindales Actor Agnes 58
Average
1941 Babes on Broadway Actor Mrs. Williams 59
Average
1941 Rise and Shine Actor Mrs. Murray 59
Average
1941 Ladies in Retirement Actor Sister Theresa 59
Average
1941 Scattergood Meets Broadway Actor Mirandy Baines N/A
N/A
1941 Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day Actor Mrs. Martha Kildare 59
Average
1941 Scattergood Pulls the Strings Actor Mirandy Baines N/A
N/A
1941 The Penalty Actor 'Ma' McCormick 59
Average
1941 The Monster and the Girl Actor Aunt Della (uncredited) 58
Average
1941 Scattergood Baines Actor Mirandy Baines 58
Average
1941 Mr. & Mrs. Smith Actor Martha 59
Average
1940 The Great Dictator Actor Mrs. Jaeckel 79
Good
1940 Dr. Kildare Goes Home Actor Mrs. Martha Kildare 59
Average
1940 Dance, Girl, Dance Actor Mrs. Simpson 59
Average
1940 One Crowded Night Actor Ma Matthews 59
Average
1940 You Can't Fool Your Wife Actor Mother Fields 58
Average
1940 Dr. Kildare's Strange Case Actor Mrs. Martha Kildare 58
Average
1940 Half a Sinner Actor Granny Gladden 58
Average
1940 Little Orvie Actor Mrs. Welty 59
Average
1940 High School Actor Mrs. O'Neill 59
Average
1939 The Llano Kid Actor Doña Teresa N/A
N/A
1939 The Secret of Dr. Kildare Actor Mrs. Martha Kildare 58
Average
1939 Hero for a Day Actor Emmy "Moms" Higgins N/A
N/A
1939 Each Dawn I Die Actor Mrs. Ross 59
Average
1939 Calling Dr. Kildare Actor Mrs. Martha Kildare 59
Average
1939 Son of Frankenstein Actor Amelia 61
Fair
1938 The Duke of West Point Actor Jack's Mother 58
Average
1938 The Cowboy and the Lady Actor Ma Hawkins 58
Average
1938 Thanks for the Memory Actor Mrs. Platt 58
Average
1938 Young Dr. Kildare Actor Mrs. Martha Kildare 59
Average
1938 Three Loves Has Nancy Actor Mrs. Briggs 58
Average
1938 Cowboy from Brooklyn Actor Ma Hardy 59
Average
1938 Lord Jeff Actor Mrs. Briggs 59
Average
1937 Madame X Actor Rose, Fleuriot's Houskeeper 59
Average
1937 Varsity Show Actor Mrs. Smith 59
Average
1937 Hideaway Actor Emma Peterson 58
Average
1937 The Emperor's Candlesticks Actor Anna - Olga's Housekeeper 58
Average
1937 Waikiki Wedding Actor Mother 59
Average
1937 Circus Girl Actor Molly 59
Average
1937 When You're in Love Actor Mrs. Hamilton 58
Average
1936 Second Wife Actor Mrs. Brown N/A
N/A
1936 The Harvester Actor Granny Moreland N/A
N/A
1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Actor Mrs. Meredith (uncredited) 65
Fair
1935 Another Face Actor Sheila's Mother (uncredited) 58
Average
1935 Seven Keys to Baldpate Actor Mrs. Quimby 59
Average
1935 This Is the Life Actor Mrs. Davis 59
Average
1935 Little Big Shot Actor Orphanage Matron 59
Average
1935 The Keeper of the Bees Actor Margaret Campbell 58
Average
1935 Ladies Crave Excitement Actor Mrs. Phelan 58
Average
1935 The Glass Key Actor 'Mom' Madvig 58
Average
1935 George White's 1935 Scandals Actor Aunt Jane 59
Average
1934 Flirtation Actor Mrs. Poole 59
Average
1934 Dr. Monica Actor Mrs. Monahan 58
Average
1934 The Quitter Actor Cordelia Tilford N/A
N/A
1934 Dark Hazard Actor Mrs. Mayhew 58
Average
1933 A Man of Sentiment Actor Mrs. John Russell Sr. N/A
N/A
1933 It's Great to Be Alive Actor Mrs. Wilton 58
Average
1933 Elmer, the Great Actor Mrs. Kane 58
Average
1933 Private Jones Actor Mrs. Jones N/A
N/A
1933 Grand Slam Actor Reporter 58
Average
1933 Hard to Handle Actor Mrs. Hawks (uncredited) 58
Average
1932 Blessed Event Actor Mrs. Roberts 59
Average
1932 Letty Lynton Actor Mrs. Darrow 59
Average
1932 It's Tough to Be Famous Actor 'Moms' McClenahan 59
Average
1932 The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood Actor Mrs. Sarah Cohen N/A
N/A
1932 The Wet Parade Actor Mrs. Chilcote 58
Average
1932 Hell's House Actor Emma Clark 58
Average
1932 Broken Lullaby Actor Frau Miller 59
Average
1932 Under Eighteen Actor Mrs. Evans (uncredited) 59
Average
1931 The Guilty Generation Actor Nina Palmero 59
Average
1931 Compromised Actor Mrs. Squires 58
Average
1931 Morals for Women Actor Mrs. Hutson 59
Average
1931 Bad Company Actor Emma 58
Average
1931 This Modern Age Actor Margaret Blake 59
Average
1931 Too Young to Marry Actor Mrs. Bumpstead N/A
N/A
1931 The Bad Sister Actor Mrs. Madison 58
Average
1931 The Prodigal Actor Mrs. Farraday 58
Average
1930 Manslaughter Actor Miss Bennett 59
Average
1930 The Texan Actor Señora Doña Marguerita Ibarra 58
Average
1929 Side Street Actor Nora O'Farrell 58
Average
1924 Pied Piper Malone Actor Mother Malone 58
Average
1914 Mother Actor Mrs. Wetherell N/A
N/A