May Tully (born 1880s – March 9, 1924) was a Canadian actress, writer, director, and producer in theatre and film, and, according to sportswriter
Damon Runyon
Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer.
He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To ...
, "perhaps the greatest woman baseball fan that ever lived."
Early life
Mary Gertrude Tully was born in
Nanaimo
Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, the daughter of Frank Tully and Nancy Hague Tully.
After her father died in a mine explosion when May was a girl, she and her widowed mother moved to
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...
, where her mother remarried. May Tully attended
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
, and Mrs. Wheatley's Dramatic School in New York.
Career
Tully was credited as a writer on eight silent films: ''
The Winning of Beatrice
''The Winning of Beatrice'' is a lost 1918 silent film romantic comedy directed by Harry L. Franklin and starring May Allison and Hale Hamilton.''Pictorial History of Silent Films'' by Daniel Blum, c.1953
Cast
*May Allison - Beatrice Buckley
*Hal ...
'' (1918),
''
Mary's Ankle
''Mary's Ankle'' is a 1920 American silent comedy film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and written by Luther Reed based upon the play of the same name by May Tully. The film stars Douglas MacLean, Doris May, Victor Potel, Neal Burns, James Gordon, ...
'' (1920), ''His Wife's Money'' (1920), ''Bucking the Tiger'' (1921), ''The Old Oaken Bucket'' (1921), ''Chivalrous Charley'' (1921), ''Kisses'' (1922), and ''That Old Gang of Mine'' (1925). In addition, she directed ''That Old Gang of Mine'' and ''The Old Oaken Bucket'', and had producer credit on ''The Old Oaken Bucket''.
On stage, Tully acted in shows such as ''The Christian'' (1900), ''In the Good Old Summer Time, The Two Mr. Wetherbys'' (1906). She wrote the play ''Mary's Ankle'' (1916), "an improbable but delectable farce"
starring
Irene Fenwick
Irene Fenwick (born Irene Frizell; September 5, 1887 – December 24, 1936) was an American stage and silent film actress. She was married to Lionel Barrymore from 1923 until her death in 1936. Fenwick has several surviving feature films fr ...
,
Zelda Sears
Zelda Sears (née Paldi; January 21, 1873 – February 19, 1935) was an American actress, screenwriter, novelist and businesswoman.
Early life and background
She was born as Zelda Paldi near Brockway Township, St. Clair County, Michigan, into ...
, and
Bert Lytell
Bertram Lytell (February 24, 1885 – September 28, 1954) was an American actor in theater and film during the silent film era and early talkies. He starred in romantic, melodrama, and adventure films.
Background
Born in New York City, Lyt ...
on Broadway; it was also a success in other cities.
Tully performed in
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
in sketches she wrote, ''Stop! Look! and Listen!'' (1907), ''The Late Mr. Allen'' (1912), ''The Battle Cry of Freedom'' (1912), and ''Mona Lisa'' (1914).
"She has long been recognized as the over-time worker of the vaudeville world," explained another writer in 1917, adding "She is perhaps the most businesslike of all the lady playwrights."
She was the sketch writer for the
Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including:
Australia
*Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria
*Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales
Canada
*Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...
in New York, and in 1915 produced a fashion show there, with models, expensive gowns, and jewelry; a popular attraction, ''The Fashion Show'' toured the
Keith circuit for months, and was refreshed with new fashions in later seasons.
In ''Curves'' (1911-1912), a vaudeville sketch she wrote about baseball, she co-starred with off-season professional players
Christy Mathewson
Christopher Mathewson (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed "Big Six", "the Christian Gentleman", "Matty", and "the Gentleman's Hurler", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher, who played 17 seasons with the New York Giant ...
and
Chief Meyers
John Tortes "Chief" Meyers (July 29, 1880 – July 25, 1971) was a Major League Baseball catcher for the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants, Boston Braves (baseball), Boston Braves, and Brooklyn Robins from 1909 to 1917. He played on the early ...
, bringing sports fans to the theatre. Her love of baseball was often noted in reports about the show. "She knows more inside baseball than 99 percent of the fans," acknowledged
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
coach
Muggsy McGraw.
Personal life
May Tully died from
nephritis
Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy.
Types
* Glomerulonephritis is inflammation of th ...
in 1924, aged about 40 years, in New York City. Headlines after her death highlighted her love and knowledge of baseball.
"She had a wide acquaintance among baseball men, players, managers, magnates, and writers," noted Damon Runyon, and was accepted into their company "because of her understanding of the game and its atmosphere."
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tully, May
1880s births
1924 deaths
Canadian film actresses
Canadian stage actresses
Silent film producers
Silent film directors
Canadian women screenwriters
Vaudeville performers
Actresses from Victoria, British Columbia
People from Nanaimo
Film directors from Victoria, British Columbia
Writers from Victoria, British Columbia
20th-century Canadian screenwriters
20th-century Canadian actresses
20th-century Canadian women writers