Madge Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Madge Kennedy was a movie and stage actress of the silent film
era.
Kennedy came to New York City
with her mother to paint. She was admitted to the Art Student's League. Luis Mora saw her art work and recommended that she go to Siasconset (Nantucket, Massachusetts
) for a summer. Mora described Kennedy as talented but very lazy.
gave theatrical performances. Kennedy appeared at a painter's play and
impressed one of the professionals there. He commented, "She could act rings around anybody." The professional was Harry Woodruff who promptly offered her a job in his play, The Genius. Soon she was in Cleveland, Ohio
where Robert McLaughlin
gave her work with his stock company.
Kennedy first started out on Broadway
with the show, Little Miss Brown. This was a farce
in three acts presented at the 48th Street Theater in August 1912. 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."
After making movies for three years she returned to the New York stage in November 1920. Kennedy played in Cornered, staged at the Astor Theatre
. Produced by Henry Savage, the play was taken from the writing of Dodson Mitchell. Kennedy performed a dual role. She acted the character of a widow in the comedy Beware of Widows which was produced by the Maxine Elliott Theatre
in December 1925. A reviewer for The New York Times
remarked about Kennedy's physical beauty as well as her skill as a comedian.
She returned to Broadway in her later years, performing in August 1965 with Ruth Gordon
, in A Very Rich Woman. That was her first stage appearance in 33 years.
signed Kennedy to a big movie contract. Kennedy starred in movies such as Baby Mine (1917), Our Little Wife (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." 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 cast included Monte Blue
and Emily Fitzroy
.
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) and Main Street to Broadway
(1953). In the late 1950s, she combined TV work with roles in movies like The Catered Affair
(1956), Lust for Life
(1956), Houseboat
(1958), A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed (1958), Plunderers of Painted Flats (1959), and North by Northwest
(1959). 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 Banker (1970), The Day of the Locust
(1975), and Marathon Man
(1976).
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 Best of the Post (1961), Alfred Hitchcock Presents
(1956–1961), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), Leave It to Beaver
(1957–1963), The Twilight Zone
(1963), and CBS Playhouse (1967).
. 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.
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.
Madge Kennedy died in Woodland Hills, California in 1987. She has a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era.
Kennedy came to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with her mother to paint. She was admitted to the Art Student's League. Luis Mora saw her art work and recommended that she go to Siasconset (Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket is an island south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the coterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated. Part of the town is designated the Nantucket...
) for a summer. Mora described Kennedy as talented but very lazy.
Theater
The Siasconset colony was evenly divided among actors and artists, and painters oftengave theatrical performances. Kennedy appeared at a painter's play and
impressed one of the professionals there. He commented, "She could act rings around anybody." The professional was Harry Woodruff who promptly offered her a job in his play, The Genius. Soon she was in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
where Robert McLaughlin
Robert McLaughlin
Robert McLaughlin was a Canadian industrialist and businessman. He founded the McLaughlin Carriage and McLaughlin Motor Car companies which later became part of General Motors....
gave her work with his stock company.
Kennedy first started out on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
with the show, Little Miss Brown. This was a farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
in three acts presented at the 48th Street Theater in August 1912. 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."
After making movies for three years she returned to the New York stage in November 1920. Kennedy played in Cornered, staged at the Astor Theatre
Astor Theatre
The Astor Theatre was a New York City Broadway theatre from 1906 to 1925 in the United States of America. It was located at 1537 Broadway, at W. 45th Street. It was first managed by Wagenhals and Kemper, then by George M. Cohan and Sam Harris, and later by the Shuberts. From 1925 to 1972 it was a...
. Produced by Henry Savage, the play was taken from the writing of Dodson Mitchell. Kennedy performed a dual role. She acted the character of a widow in the comedy Beware of Widows which was produced by the Maxine Elliott Theatre
Maxine Elliott Theatre
The Maxine Elliott Theatre was a Broadway theater located at 109 West 39th Street in New York City. Built in 1908, it was demolished in 1960. The theater was designed by architect Benjamin Marshall of the Chicago firm Marshall and Fox....
in December 1925. A reviewer for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
remarked about Kennedy's physical beauty as well as her skill as a comedian.
She returned to Broadway in her later years, performing in August 1965 with Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
, in A Very Rich Woman. That was her first stage appearance in 33 years.
Films
After Broadway, Sam Goldwyn of Goldwyn PicturesGoldwyn Pictures
Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company founded in 1916 by Samuel Goldfish in partnership with Broadway producers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn using an amalgamation of both last names to create the name...
signed Kennedy to a big movie contract. Kennedy starred in movies such as Baby Mine (1917), Our Little Wife (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." 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
Avery Hopwood
James Avery Hopwood , was the most successful playwright of the Jazz Age, having four plays running simultaneously on Broadway in 1920.-Biography:...
. A Perfect Lady (1918) was released in December and was taken from a stage play by Channing Pollock
Channing Pollock (writer)
Channing Pollock was an American playwright, critic and writer of film scenarios.-External links:* from Howard University*...
and Rennold Wolf. Kennedy co-starred with James Montgomery. In 1923, she starred in The Purple Highway. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
is an adaptation of the stage play Dear Me, written by Luther Reed and Hale Hamilton. The cast included Monte Blue
Monte Blue
Monte Blue was a movie actor who began his career as a romantic leading man in the silent film era, and later progressed to character roles....
and Emily Fitzroy
Emily Fitzroy
Emily Fitzroy was a British film actress who eventually became an American citizen. She made her film debut in 1915 and retired in 1944, with exactly 100 films to her resume...
.
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
The Marrying Kind
The Marrying Kind is a film directed by George Cukor, starring Aldo Ray and Judy Holliday. Other cast members include John Alexander, Charles Bronson, Peggy Cass, Barry Curtis, Tom Farrell, Frank Ferguson, Ruth Gordon , Gordon Jones, Madge Kennedy, Nancy Kulp, Mickey Shaughnessy, and Joan...
(1952) and Main Street to Broadway
Main Street to Broadway
Main Street to Broadway is a 1953 MGM musical comedy starring Tom Morton and Mary Murphy about an aspiring playwright who hopes to stage a Broadway production starring Tallulah Bankhead...
(1953). In the late 1950s, she combined TV work with roles in movies like The Catered Affair
The Catered Affair
The Catered Affair , also known as Wedding Party, is a family drama film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Richard Brooks and produced by Sam Zimbalist from a screenplay by Gore Vidal, based on a television play by Paddy Chayefsky...
(1956), Lust for Life
Lust for Life (film)
Lust for Life is a MGM biographical film about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, based on the 1934 novel by Irving Stone and adapted by Norman Corwin.It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by John Houseman...
(1956), Houseboat
Houseboat (film)
Houseboat is a 1958 romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer, Paul Petersen, Charles Herbert and Mimi Gibson. The movie was directed by Melville Shavelson, who also directed the original 1968 version of Yours, Mine and Ours....
(1958), A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed (1958), Plunderers of Painted Flats (1959), and North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
(1959). She has an uncredited part as a secretary in the Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
film Let's Make Love
Let's Make Love
Let's Make Love is a 1960 musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by George Cukor and produced by Jerry Wald from a screenplay by Norman Krasna, Hal Kanter and Arthur Miller...
(1960).
Her film career endured into the 1970s with roles in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), The Banker (1970), The Day of the Locust
The Day of the Locust (film)
The Day of the Locust is a 1975 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay by Waldo Salt is based on the 1939 novel of the same title by Nathanael West...
(1975), and Marathon Man
Marathon Man
Marathon Man is a 1974 conspiracy thriller novel by William Goldman. In 1976 it was made into a film of the same name starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, and Roy Scheider and directed by John Schlesinger.-Plot synopsis:...
(1976).
Radio and television
Pepper Young's Family
Pepper Young's Family was one of radio's more popular daytime drama series, with various format and title changes during its long run from 1932 to 1959...
series (1934) over NBC Radio and WJZ
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
(WABC-AM) network, Kennedy worked with Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
who had the title role. She was written into the full script by the program's creator, Elaine Sterne Carrington
Elaine Sterne Carrington
Elaine Sterne Carrington was an American screenwriter, playwright, novelist and short story author who found her greatest success writing for radio. The woman who originated radio soap opera in 1932, Carrington wrote more than 12,000 daily dramas during her long career...
.
Kennedy was prolific in terms of her television appearances beginning with an episode of the Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, is a weekly CBS anthology television series, was telecast on Friday nights from 1951 until 1959. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by Schlitz beer...
(1954). Her additional performances in television series are Studio 57 (1954), General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...
(1954), Science Fiction Theater (1955), The Best of the Post (1961), Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
(1956–1961), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...
(1957–1963), The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
(1963), and CBS Playhouse (1967).
Marriages
Kennedy requested her release from a contract with Sam Goldwyn. She decided to return to the stage in 1921, 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 AmericaSouth America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. He was a member of the New York banking firm of Bennett, Bolster & Coghill. Bolster was 38 and a veteran of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Kennedy inherited more than $500,000 when he died.
She wed William B. Hanley, Jr., in Kingman, Arizona
Kingman, Arizona
Kingman is located in a desert climate on the edge of the Mojave Desert, but its higher elevation and location between the Colorado Plateau and the Lower Colorado River Valley tempers summer high temperatures and contributes to winter cold and rare snowfall. Summer daytime highs reach above 90 °F ...
, on August 13, 1934. Hanley was an actor and radio personality. The couple resided in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Kennedy retired temporarily after her marriage before returning to work in entertainment.
She enjoyed outdoor activities such as playing golf, horseback riding and driving cars. She owned a Willys-Knight
Willys-Knight
Willys-Knight is an automobile that was produced between 1914 and 1933 by the Willys-Overland Company of Toledo, Ohio.John North Willys purchased the Edwards Motor Car Company of Long Island, New York, in 1913, moving the operation to Elyria, Ohio, where Willys owned the plant that had previously...
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
Norwich, Connecticut
Regular steamship service between New York and Boston helped Norwich to prosper as a shipping center through the early part of the 20th century. During the Civil War, Norwich once again rallied and saw the growth of its textile, armaments, and specialty item manufacturing...
court for damages she caused in a car accident on the Boston Post Road
Boston Post Road
The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into the first major highways in the United States.The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York...
near Groton, Connecticut
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....
in June 1928. The plaintiffs asked for $13,000.
Madge Kennedy died in Woodland Hills, California in 1987. She has a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.