Anne Preston Bridgers (May 1, 1891 – May 3, 1967) was an American playwright, actress, and teacher.

Early years

Born in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, Bridgers was the daughter of Robert Rufus Bridgers, Jr., and Annie Preston Cain. She grew up in

Adrian, Georgia Adrian is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, in Emanuel County, Georgia, Emanuel and Johnson County, Georgia, Johnson counties. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 552. The Johnson ...

. She attended Mary Baldwin Seminary in

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

, and

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

. She received a bachelor of arts degree from Smith in 1915.

Career

After graduating from Smith College, Bridgers became a public school teacher and part of the Selective Service Bureau. She later opened her own gift shop and also became the president of the Raleigh Community Players. She sold her gift shop in 1923 and then moved to New York where she attended drama school. For a while after 1923, she gained success as a theater actress as understudy to

Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred in Broadway and We ...

on Broadway in ''Dulcy''. Her next two successful roles were in the plays ''Fall Guy'' and ''

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

''. The first play she wrote was ''Norma'', then ''Coquette'', which was made into a 1929 film ''

Coquette A coquette is a flirtatious woman. It may refer to: * ''The Coquette'' (film), a 1917 German silent comedy film * ''Coquette'' (film), an Academy Award-winning 1929 film starring Mary Pickford * ''Coqueta '' (1949 film), a Mexican musical film * ' ...

''. The Theatre Club awarded the play Coquette as ''"the most pleasing play of 1927–28"''. After leaving Broadway, she moved back to Raleigh in 1933 after traveling around Europe. She was a member of the board of the Literary and Historical Association, an editor of the ''Survey of Federal Records'', wrote for the '' Raleigh Times'', and wrote for the ''

News and Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the ''Charlotte Observer''). The paper has bee ...

''. She helped form the

Raleigh Little Theatre Raleigh Little Theatre (RLT) is a community theatre in Raleigh, North Carolina, that produces 10 to 11 full productions annually and conducts youth and adult theatre education programs. About Raleigh Little Theatre was established in 1936 to pro ...

Death

Bridgers died on May 3, 1967, and was buried at Oakdale Cemetery, Wilmington.

Papers

''The Ann Preston Bridgers Papers, 1915-1946'' are housed in the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina. It contains "correspondence, writings, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, and other materials" from Bridgers.

References

External links

Ann Preston Bridgers Papers, 1915-1946
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgers, Ann Preston 1891 births 1967 deaths American women dramatists and playwrights Burials at Oakdale Cemetery (Wilmington, North Carolina) Smith College alumni Mary Baldwin University alumni 20th-century American actresses Actresses from North Carolina American stage actresses American film actresses Writers from Raleigh, North Carolina