Violet Kemble-Cooper (12 December 1886 – 17 August 1961) was an English-American stage and film actress who appeared on stage and in Hollywood film.

Early life

Born in London, she was a descendant from a well-known theatrical family, the

Kemble family Kemble is the name of a family of English actors, who reigned over the English stage for many decades. The most famous were Sarah Siddons (1755–1831) and her brother John Philip Kemble (1757–1823), the two eldest of the twelve children of Ro ...

. Her father was actor Frank Kemble-Cooper. Her sisters

Lillian Kemble-Cooper Lillian Kemble-Cooper (March 21, 1892 – May 4, 1977) was an English-American actress who had a successful career on Broadway and in Hollywood film. Biography Early life Lillian Kemble-Cooper was a member of the Kemble family, a family of ...

and Greta Kemble Cooper, and her brother Anthony Kemble Cooper were actors as well. Her uncle was thespian

H. Cooper Cliffe Henry Cooper Cliffe (19 July 1862 – 1 May 1939) was a British stage and screen actor a member of a distinguished family of English actors, his father was Clifford Cooper, mother Agnes Kemble, and his brother was Frank Kemble Cooper. Frank's da ...

Career

She made her first stage appearance in 1905 in her native England in a production of ''

Charley's Aunt ''Charley's Aunt'' is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. The story centres on Lord Fancourt Babberley, an undergraduate whose friends Jack and Charley persuade him to impersonate the latter's aunt. The complications of the plot inc ...

''. By 1912 she was in America, touring and in stock plays with actors including

Blanche Bates Blanche Bates (August 25, 1873 – December 25, 1941) was an American actress. Early years Bates was born in Portland, Oregon, while her parents (both of whom were actors) were on a road tour. As an infant, she traveled with them on a t ...

and

Laurette Taylor Laurette Taylor (born Loretta Helen Cooney; April 1, 1883Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Roll: 1119; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 859; FHL microfilm: 1241119. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1900 Un ...

. She appeared with

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

in '' Claire de Lune'' on Broadway in 1921.

Film

As Violet spent her formative years acting in the theater she never appeared in the genre silent films. She appeared in talkies beginning with the

Constance Bennett Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress and producer. She was a major Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s; during the early 1930s, she was the highest-paid ...

film ''

Our Betters ''Our Betters'' is a 1933 American pre-Code satirical comedy film directed by George Cukor and starring Constance Bennett, Anita Louise and Gilbert Roland. The screenplay by Jane Murfin and Harry Wagstaff Gribble is based on the 1917 play of th ...

'' (1933). She appeared in several more films, including the evil spinster Miss Murdstone in the

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

film adaption ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

'' (1935) and

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 ...

's mother in the horror film '' The Invisible Ray'' (1936). Kemble-Coopers last movie was the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

costumer ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' (1936), where she portrayed Lady Capulet.

Personal life and death

She died of a stroke and

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in California in 1961, aged 74.''Silent Film Necrology'' by Eugene Michael Vazzana c.2001

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Violet Kemble-Cooper'' portrait gallery NY Public Library, Billy Rose collection in studio portrait of Violet Kemble-Cooper
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kemble-Cooper, Violet 1886 births 1961 deaths Actresses from London English film actresses English stage actresses Kemble family 20th-century English actresses British expatriate actresses in the United States