Emma Dunn
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.
Known For
Mrs. Jaeckel
The Great Dictator
Amelia
Son of Frankenstein
Martha Carter
The Postman Didn't Ring
Mrs. Shelley
The Talk of the Town
Martha
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Margaret
Life with Father
Sister Theresa
Ladies in Retirement
'Mom' Madvig
The Glass Key
Mrs. Brown
Second Wife
Mrs. Vesey
The Woman in White
Mrs. Roberts
Blessed Event
Rose, Fleuriot's Houskeeper
Madame X
Mrs. Kane
Elmer, the Great
Mrs. Hamilton
When You're in Love
Mrs. Martha Kildare
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
Mom Smith
Minesweeper
Mrs. Martha Kildare
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Mrs. Evans (uncredited)
Under Eighteen
Orphanage Matron
Little Big Shot
Mrs. Monahan
Dr. Monica
Doña Mercedes
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Mrs. Madison
The Bad Sister
Mrs. Chilcote
The Wet Parade
Mrs. Hawks (uncredited)
Hard to Handle
Mrs. Smith
Varsity Show
Emma Clark
Hell's House
Jack's Mother
The Duke of West Point
Margaret Campbell
The Keeper of the Bees
Mrs. Phelan
Ladies Crave Excitement
Aunt Jane
George White's 1935 Scandals
Mrs. Quimby
Seven Keys to Baldpate
'Moms' McClenahan
It's Tough to Be Famous
Margaret Blake
This Modern Age
Mrs. Platt
Thanks for the Memory
Mrs. Hutson
Morals for Women
Molly
Circus Girl
Doña Teresa
The Llano Kid
Mrs. Poole
Flirtation
Granny Moreland
The Harvester
Mother Fields
You Can't Fool Your Wife
Mrs. O'Neill
High School
Mrs. Mayhew
Dark Hazard
Miss Bennett
Manslaughter
Ma Hawkins
The Cowboy and the Lady
Mrs. Briggs
Three Loves Has Nancy
Nina Palmero
The Guilty Generation
Mrs. John Russell Sr.
A Man of Sentiment
Ma Hardy
Cowboy from Brooklyn
Emma Peterson
Hideaway
Mrs. Darrow
Letty Lynton
Molly Baker
Hoosier Holiday
Nora O'Farrell
Side Street
Granny Gladden
Half a Sinner
Mrs. Martha Kildare
Young Dr. Kildare
Mother
Waikiki Wedding
'Ma' McCormick
The Penalty
Mrs. Martha Kildare
Calling Dr. Kildare
Mrs. Ross
Each Dawn I Die
Mrs. Davis
This Is the Life
Mrs. Farraday
The Prodigal
Mrs. Martha Kildare
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
Mrs. Squires
Compromised
Mrs. Meredith (uncredited)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Cordelia Tilford
The Quitter
Frau Miller
Broken Lullaby
Señora Doña Marguerita Ibarra
The Texan
Mrs. Keaver (uncredited)
It Happened Tomorrow
Mrs. Welty
Little Orvie
Mrs. Borden
Mourning Becomes Electra
Mary Ballinger
My Buddy
Mirandy Baines
Scattergood Meets Broadway
Maggie
The Hoodlum Saint
Mrs. Simpson
Dance, Girl, Dance
Mrs. Martha Kildare
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
Mrs. Bumpstead
Too Young to Marry
Ma Henderson
Are These Our Parents?
Wife of Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
I Married a Witch
Mrs. Wilton
It's Great to Be Alive
Ma Matthews
One Crowded Night
Mother Malone
Pied Piper Malone
Agnes
The Mad Martindales
Mrs. Jones
Private Jones
Mrs. Murray
Rise and Shine
Aunt Della (uncredited)
The Monster and the Girl
Reporter
Grand Slam
Mrs. Briggs
Lord Jeff
Emma
Bad Company
Mirandy Baines
Scattergood Baines
Mirandy Baines
Scattergood Pulls the Strings
Sheila's Mother (uncredited)
Another Face
Mrs. Williams
Babes on Broadway
Emmy "Moms" Higgins
Hero for a Day
Mrs. Sarah Cohen
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
Anna - Olga's Housekeeper
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Mrs. Wetherell
Mother
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
95
Gender
Female
Birthday
1874-02-24
Place of Birth
Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK
Also Known As