Carroll McComas (June 27, 1886 – November 9, 1962) was an American stage, film, and television actress.

Biography

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico Territory, McComas was the daughter of Judge Charles Carroll McComas and his wife, Ellen Moore. One of her ancestors was

Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an Irish-American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic sign ...

. In 1907, McComas debuted on stage. During a weekend, she performed a whistling act at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, but she returned to school after that Monday's first matinee. She became a dancer, singer, and whistler in vaudeville, with whistling as her specialty. She performed as a whistler in London and on a tour of South Africa. She went on to play more than two dozen roles on Broadway . In 1918, she played May Barber in the Princess Theatre musical ''

Oh, Lady! Lady!! ''Oh, Lady! Lady!!'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern, a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse and lyrics by Wodehouse. It was written for the Princess Theatre on Broadway, where it played in 1918 and ran for 219 performances. The story ...

'' by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred w ...

and

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

. Her greatest personal stage triumphs were as the title character in ''Miss Lulu Bett'', by

Zona Gale Zona Gale, also known by her married name, Zona Gale Breese (August 26, 1874 – December 27, 1938), was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. She became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921. The close r ...

, in the 1920–21 season and as Roxane in ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

'' in the 1923–24 season. Her last Broadway role was in 1950 as Catherine Petkoff in ''

Arms and the Man ''Arms and the Man'' is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', in Latin: ''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing"). The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the Aven ...

''. She made her silent movie debut in 1916 in ''

When Love Is King ''When Love Is King'' is a 1916 silent film comedy drama, that was produced and distributed by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in conjunction with George Kleine. The film is a starring debut for stage actress Carroll McComas. The film is preserved at the L ...

'', a still extant film. Her second and last silent film came in 1920 in ''

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

.''This movie still survives.The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''Jack Straw''
/ref> Other films in which she appeared included ''The Miracle Worker''. She also appeared on television. In 1922, McComas married cartoonist Walter Enright; they divorced in 1928. McComas interrupted her acting career after marrying Selskar M Gunn, a vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1933. Gunn died in 1944 and McComas returned to the stage in 1950 and to film in 1953 to play a supporting role in ''

Jamaica Run ''Jamaica Run'' is a 1953 American adventure drama film concerning ownership of an old estate set on the island in the Caribbean. It was directed by Lewis R. Foster and starred Ray Milland, Arlene Dahl and Wendell Corey. Much of the personnel in t ...

'' where she appeared as the mother of

Wendell Corey Wendell Reid Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968) was an American actor and politician. He was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was a board member of the Screen Actors Guild. Biography Early years Corey was ...

and

Arlene Dahl Arlene Carol Dahl (August 11, 1925 – November 29, 2021) was an American actress active in films from the late 1940s. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era. She was also an author and entrepreneur. Sh ...

. On November 9, 1962, McComas died at her home in New York City, aged 76.

Partial filmography

*''

'' (1916) *''

'' (1920) *''

'' (1953) *'' Chicago Syndicate'' (1955)

References

External links

Carroll McComas papers, 1914-1962
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

Carroll McComas
and

Leonore Harris Leonore Harris (July 28, 1879 – September 27, 1953) was an American stage and screen actress. She appeared in a handful of silent films and preferred the Broadway stage. As a young woman she was one of many young actresses appearing on cigarette ...

RMS Berengaria SS ''Imperator'' was a German ocean liner built for the Hamburg America Line ( Hamburg Amerikanische Paketfahrt Aktien Gesellschaft, or HAPAG), launched in 1912. At the time of his completion in June 1913, he was the largest passenger ship in t ...

1925 (Wayback Machine version) * *
Carroll McComas
images held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

{{DEFAULTSORT:McComas, Carroll 1886 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Albuquerque, New Mexico American silent film actresses American stage actresses Vaudeville performers