Mary Morris (June 24, 1895 – January 16, 1970) was an American stage actress with a long and varied career. She was born to George Perry Morris and Martha Sophia (née Turner). She was educated in the

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

Public Schools and at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

. She began in Amateur theatricals at the Bandbox Theatre, before becoming an Understudy with the

Washington Square Players The Washington Square Players (WSP) was a theatre troupe and production company that existed from 1915 to 1918 in Manhattan, New York City. It started as a semi-amateur Little Theatre then matured into a Repertory theatre with its own tourin ...

. She made her professional debut with the WSP in San Francisco in 1916 in ''The Clod''. Perhaps her most famous stage role was that of Victoria Van Brett, the elderly,

Machiavellian Machiavellianism or Machiavellian may refer to: Politics *Machiavellianism (politics), the supposed political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli *Political realism Psychology *Machiavellianism (psychology), a personality trait centered on cold an ...

spinster in the Elizabeth McFadden thriller ''Double Door''. She made such an impression as the villain of the piece that

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, buying the screen rights to the play, insisted on Mary Morris for the leading role. She was then touring in the play, so Paramount delayed production until she could report to the studio in Hollywood. ''

Double Door Double Door, a concert hall and nightclub, was located in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The venue was first opened on June 12, 1994, and was co-owned by Andrew Barrett, Sean Mulroney and Joe Shanahan. On Ju ...

'' was her only motion picture; she received rave reviews for her performance. After a triumphant preview, according to ''Motion Picture Daily'', "Paramount has decided to build Mary Morris into a female

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

. The studio is now looking for a story of the horror type, in which to star the actress." Morris didn't take the studio's plans seriously; she disliked the Hollywood scene and returned immediately to the stage. By the summer of 1934, with the screen version of ''Double Door'' playing in neighborhood theaters, Mary Morris was touring New England in the stage version.''Motion Picture Daily'', June 26, 1934, p. 15.

Selected stage credits

*''The Seagull'' (1916) *''The Spook Sonata'' (1923) *''The Crime in the Whistler Room'' (1924) *''Desire Under the Elms'' (1924) *''Hidden'' (1927) *''At the Bottom'' (1930) *''

Night over Taos ''Night Over Taos'' was a 1932 Broadway three-act drama written by Maxwell Anderson, produced by the Group Theatre and staged by Lee Strasberg. It was the Group Theatre's third production. It ran for 13 performances from March 9, 1936 closing tha ...

'' (1932) *''Camille'' (1932) *''Double Door'' (1933-34) *''Granite'' (1936) *''The Father'' (1949) *''A Month in the Country'' (1956)

References

External links

* *
Portrait of Mary Morris
1895 births 1970 deaths People from Swampscott, Massachusetts Actresses from Boston Radcliffe College alumni American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses {{US-theat-actor-1890s-stub