Selena Royle (November 6, 1904 – April 23, 1983) was an American actress (of stage, radio, television and film), and later, an author.

Early life and career

Actress

Royle was born in New York City to playwright Edwin Milton Royle and actress Selena Fetter (April 12, 1860 - May 10, 1955). She had an older sister, Josephine Fetter Royle (1901–1992). Her mother recounted in a newspaper article that she used to take Selena along with her to her rehearsals and performances. One night, then seven-year-old Selena went missing. While the mother frantically searched for her, holding up act two, the audience became restless. The youngster finally turned up - she had gone on stage dressed in her mother's second-act costume; she made a bow, much to the audience's amusement. She later remarked, "And that is the first time I was ever on stage, and I liked it so well I stayed." Her father wrote the 1921 Broadway play ''Lancelot and Elaine'' to provide both her and sister Josephine with their first professional roles, as

Guinevere Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First ment ...

and Elaine respectively. Eventually, she landed a part on her own in the 1923

Theatre Guild The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of th ...

production of ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...

'', with

Joseph Schildkraut Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film ''The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for ...

, and became a respected Broadway actress. She made one film in the 1930s, ''

Misleading Lady ''The Misleading Lady'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Stuart Walker, and starring Claudette Colbert and Edmund Lowe. The film is based on the 1913 Broadway play by Charles W. Goddard and Paul Dickey. It is also a remake o ...

'', but otherwise worked on the stage and on radio. Royle began her radio career in 1926 or 1927 and performed "almost continuously since", according to a 1939 newspaper item. Her body of work includes playing the title role in ''Hilda Hope, M.D.'' She also played Martha Jackson in ''Woman of Courage'', Mrs. Allen in '' Against the Storm'', Joan in ''

The O'Neills ''The O'Neills'' is a radio and TV serial drama. The radio iteration of the show aired on Mutual, CBS and NBC from 1934 to 1943. Created by actress-writer Jane West, the series was sponsored at various times by Gold Dust, Ivory Snow, and Standa ...

'', and Mrs. Gardner in ''

Betty and Bob ''Betty and Bob'' is a radio soap opera. The soap opera followed the lives of Betty and Bob Drake. Betty was a secretary who falls madly in love with her boss, bachelor Bob Drake. The two wed and each day, the subject matter dealt with everything ...

'', and appeared in '' Kate Hopkins, Angel of Mercy''. In the 1940s, she returned to film and had a successful run, mainly playing maternal characters such as the bereaved mother of ''

The Fighting Sullivans ''The Fighting Sullivans'', originally released as ''The Sullivans'', is a 1944 American biographical war film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Edward Doherty, Mary C. McCall Jr., and Jules Schermer. It was nominated for a now-discontinued ...

'' (1944), mother to

Jane Powell Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce; April 1, 1929 – September 16, 2021) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image ...

in the big screen adaptation of ''

A Date with Judy ''A Date with Judy'' is a comedy radio series aimed at a teenage audience which ran from 1941 to 1950. The series was co-created by Jerome Lawrence and Aleen Leslie, and based on Leslie's “One Girl Chorus” column in the Pittsburgh Press. ...

'' (1948) and the title character's mother opposite

Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...

as ''

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

'' (1948).

HUAC

She made several appearances on early television. However, in 1951, she refused to testify before the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

. She sued the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is made up of state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, and these are in turn made up of lo ...

, which had published ''

Red Channels ''Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television'' was an anti-Communist document published in the United States at the start of the 1950s. Issued by the right-wing journal ''Counterattack'' on June 22, 1950, the pamphle ...

'', in which her name was listed, and won but her acting career ended, her last film being ''

Murder Is My Beat ''Murder Is My Beat'' is a 1955 film noir mystery film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer starring Paul Langton, Barbara Payton and Robert Shayne.. Plot Businessman Frank Deane is found dead with his face and hands burned beyond recognition. Detecti ...

'' (1955).

Writer

She also wrote several books, including ''Guadalajara: as I Know It, Live It, Love It'' (which went through several editions) and a couple of cookbooks, and some magazine articles. She was the "radio editor" of the short-lived New York periodical ''Swank''.

Personal life and death

During the early Depression, Selena Royle and Elizabeth Beatty started the Actors Free Dinner Club in Union Church on West 48th Street. It was organized so that those who came to volunteer and those who came out of necessity were indistinguishable from each other. Her first husband was Earle Larrimore, a cousin of actress

Laura Hope Crews Laura Hope Crews (December 12, 1879 – November 12, 1942) was an American actress who is best remembered today for her later work as a character actress in motion pictures of the 1930s. Her best-known film role was Aunt Pittypat in '' Gon ...

. They married in 1932 and divorced in 1942. She was married to actor

Georges Renavent Georges Renavent (born Georges DeChaux, April 23, 1892 – January 2, 1969) was a French-American actor in film, Broadway plays and operator of American Grand Guignol. He was born in Paris, France. In 1914, he immigrated to the United Stat ...

from 1948 until his death in 1969. Royle died in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

, Mexico, on April 23, 1983, aged 78.

Complete filmography

* '' The Misleading Lady'' (1932) - Alice Connell * ''

Stage Door Canteen The Stage Door Canteen was an entertainment venue for American and Allied servicemen that operated in the Broadway theatre district of New York City throughout World War II. Founded by the American Theatre Wing (ATW) in 1942, the entertainers w ...

'' (1943) - Selena Royle * ''

'' (1944) - Mrs. Alleta Sullivan * '' Mrs. Parkington'' (1944) - Mattie Trounson * ''

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' is a 1944 American war film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo is based on the 1943 book of the same name by Captain Ted W. Lawson. Lawson was a pilot on the historic Doolittle Raid, Am ...

'' (1944) - Mrs. Reynolds * '' This Man's Navy'' (1945) - Maude Weaver * ''

Main Street After Dark ''Main Street After Dark'' is a 1945 American drama film directed by Edward L. Cahn and written by John C. Higgins and Karl Kamb. The film stars Edward Arnold, Selena Royle, Tom Trout, Audrey Totter, Dan Duryea, Hume Cronyn and Dorothy Morris. ...

'' (1945) - 'Ma' Abby Dibson * ''

The Harvey Girls ''The Harvey Girls'' is a 1946 Technicolor American musical film produced by Arthur Freed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Samuel Hopkins Adams, about Fred Harvey's Harvey House waitresses. Directed ...

'' (1946) - Miss Bliss * '' The Green Years'' (1946) - Mama Leckie * '' Night and Day'' (1946) - Kate Porter * '' Till the End of Time'' (1946) - Mrs. Kincheloe * ''

Courage of Lassie ''Courage of Lassie'' is a 1946 Technicolor MGM feature film starring Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Morgan, and dog actor Pal in a story about a collie named Bill and his young companion, Kathie Merrick. When Bill is separated from Kathie following a v ...

'' (1946) - Mrs. Merrick * ''

Gallant Journey ''Gallant Journey'' (aka ''The Great Highway'') is a 1946 American historical film written, produced and directed by William A. Wellman and starring Glenn Ford and Janet Blair. The film is a biopic of the early U.S. aviation pioneer John Joseph Mo ...

'' (1946) - Mrs. Zachary Montgomery * '' No Leave, No Love'' (1946) - Mrs. Hanlon * ''

The Romance of Rosy Ridge ''The Romance of Rosy Ridge'' is a 1947 American Western film directed by Roy Rowland, about a rural community bitterly divided during the aftermath of the American Civil War. It stars Van Johnson, Thomas Mitchell, and Janet Leigh in her film ...

'' (1947) - Sairy MacBean * '' Cass Timberlane'' (1947) - Louise Wargate * '' You Were Meant for Me'' (1948) - Mrs. Cora Mayhew * '' Summer Holiday'' (1948) - Mrs. Essie Miller * '' Smart Woman'' (1948) - Mrs. Wayne * ''

'' (1948) - Mrs. Dora Foster * '' Moonrise'' (1948) - Aunt Jessie * ''

'' (1948) - Isabelle d'Arc * '' Bad Boy'' (1949) - Judge Florence Prentiss * ''

My Dream Is Yours ''My Dream Is Yours'' is a 1949 Technicolor musical romantic comedy film starring Jack Carson, Doris Day, and Lee Bowman. Plot The film opens in Los Angeles, where Doug Blake is dumped as a manager by Gary Mitchell. He goes to New York City to f ...

'' (1949) - Freda Hofer * '' You're My Everything'' (1949) - Mrs. Adams * ''

The Heiress ''The Heiress'' is a 1949 American romantic drama film directed and produced by William Wyler, from a screenplay written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, adapted from their 1947 stage play of the same title, which was itself adapted from Henry James ...

'' (1949) - Elizabeth Almond * ''

The Damned Don't Cry ''The Damned Don't Cry'' is a 1950 American film noir crime-drama directed by Vincent Sherman and featuring Joan Crawford, David Brian, and Steve Cochran. It tells of a woman's involvement with an organized crime boss and his subordinates. The ...

'' (1950) - Patricia Longworth * '' The Big Hangover'' (1950) - Kate Mahoney * '' Branded'' (1950) - Mrs. Lavery * ''

He Ran All the Way ''He Ran All the Way'' is a 1951 American crime drama and film noir directed by John Berry and starring John Garfield and Shelley Winters. Distributed by United Artists, it was produced independently by Roberts Pictures, a company named for Gar ...

'' (1951) - Mrs. Dobbs * '' Come Fill the Cup'' (1951) - Mrs. Dolly Copeland * ''I Lift Up My Lamp'' (1952, TV movie) - Cast Member * ''

Robot Monster ''Robot Monster'' (or ''Monster from Mars'')

'' (1953) - Mother * ''The Good Samaritan'' (1954, TV movie) - Schoolteacher * ''

'' (1955) - Beatrice Abbott

References

External links

* *
Selena Fetter (mother of Selena Royle)'s portrait
University of Louisville archives; accessed May 24, 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Royle, Selena 1904 births 1983 deaths Actresses from New York City American expatriates in Mexico American film actresses American radio actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Hollywood blacklist 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers