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Frances Starr

{{short description|American actress (1881–1973)}}

{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Frances Starr

| image = Frances Starr, stage actress (SAYRE 9011) (cropped).jpg

| caption =

| birth_name = Frances Grant Starr

| birth_date = {{birth date|1881|06|06}}

| birth_place = Oneonta, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1973|06|11|1881|06|06}}

| death_place = New York City, U.S.

| resting_place = Albany Rural CemeteryVan Tuyl lot, sec. 122, lot 11, Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany, NY., Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 44790). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1901–1955

| spouse = {{plainlist|

  • Haskell Coffin
  • Robert G. Donaldson
  • Emil C. WettenGreat Stars of the American Stage by Daniel Blum, Profile #58 c. 1954

}}

}}

Frances Grant Starr (June 6, 1881{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/311982:2226 |title=Frances Starr in the Menands, New York, U.S., Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards |url-access=subscription |via=Ancestry.com |publisher=Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards |access-date=July 18, 2022}} – June 11, 1973) was an American stage, film and television actress.

Early years

Starr's parents were Charles Edward Starr and Emma (née Grant). She had two half sisters, and her father died when she was a child.{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}

Career

Starr started in plays in 1901 in an Albany stock company, in which Lionel Barrymore and Alison Skipworth were members. She starred opposite Charles Richman as Nell Colfax in David Gray's Gallops at the Garrick Theatre in 1906.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/02/13/archives/-gallops-may-have-a-run-hunting-play-with-charles-richman.html|title='Gallops' May Have A Run; Hunting Play, with Charles Richman, Entertains a First-Night Audience|work=The New York Times|date=February 13, 1906|page= 7}} Later that year she signed with David Belasco and appeared in a small role with David Warfield in The Music Master.

In November 1906, she appeared along with another young actress, Jane Cowl, in The Rose of the Rancho. She achieved her breakout stage role in 1909 in Belasco's production of The Easiest Way. Starr continued to have a string of successes such as The Case of Becky (1912) and Shore Leave (1922).

She delivered a standout role as the wronged mother in Five Star Final (1931), an early talkie about newspaper corruption. It was her second of only three sound films.[http://www.allmovie.com/artist/frances-starr-p67711 Frances Starr; AllMovie.com bio by Hans J. Wollstein] Lastly she appeared in This Reckless Age (1932) with Buddy Rogers and Richard Bennett. On television, Starr appeared on Studio One, Omnibus, Kraft Television Theatre and other programs.{{Citation needed |date=October 2020}}

Starr's Broadway credits included The Ladies of the Corridor (1953), The Sacred Flame (1952), The Long Days (1951), The Young and Fair (1948), Claudia (1941), The Good (1938), Field of Ermine (1935), Lady Jane (1934), Moor Born (1934), The Lake (1933), Diplomacy (1928), Immoral Isabella? (1927), The Shelf (1926), Shore Leave (1922), The Easiest Way (1921), One (1920), Tiger! Tiger! (1918), Little Lady in Blue (1916), Marie-Odile (1915), The Secret (1914), The Secret (1913), The Case of Becky (1912), The Easiest Way (1909), The Rose of the Rancho (1906), Gallops (1906), and Nell Gwyn (1901).{{cite web |title=Frances Starr |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/frances-starr-60900 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |access-date=October 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021010320/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/frances-starr-60900 |archive-date=October 21, 2020}}

File:Signed drawing of Frances Starr by Manuel Rosenberg for the Cincinnati Post 1922.jpg 1922]]

Personal life

Starr's marriages to artist William Haskell Coffin and banker R. Golden Donaldson ended in divorce. She was widowed by her third husband, attorney Emil C. Wetten.{{cite news |title=Frances Starr dies; acted for Belasco |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/119861761 |access-date=October 21, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=June 12, 1973 |page=48|id={{ProQuest|119861761}} }}

Death

Starr died on June 11, 1973, at her home at age 92.

Filmography

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Frances Starr}}

  • {{IBDB name}}
  • {{IMDb name|0823503}}
  • [https://www.nytimes.com/1912/08/04/archives/allstar-cast-on-cedric-five-prominent-actresses-back-for-work.html "All-Star Cast on Cedric; Five Prominent Actresses Back for Work"] (Frances Starr, Jane Cowl, Pamela Gaythorne, Dorothy Donnelly and Mrs LeMoyne return from European vacation on RMS Cedric); The New York Times, August 4, 1912
  • [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=frances+starr Frances Starr] portrait gallery at New York Public Library Billy Rose digital collection
  • [http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/search/collection/sayre/searchterm/frances%20starr/field/all/mode/all/conn/and/cosuppress/ Frances Starr] (University of Washington, Sayre collection)
  • {{Find a Grave|194894572}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Frances}}

Category:1881 births

Category:1973 deaths

Category:Actresses from New York (state)

Category:American stage actresses

Category:American film actresses

Category:American television actresses

Category:People from Oneonta, New York

Category:Place of death missing

Category:20th-century American actresses