Mattie Edwards
{{Short description|American vaudeville and silent film actress}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mattie Edwards
| image = Mattie Edwards.jpg
| alt = See caption
| caption = Edwards {{circa}} 1911
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1866
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death year and age|1944|1866}}
| death_place = Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
| nationality =
| other_names = Hattie Edwards
Martha Mattie Settle
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1887–1937
| known_for = Theatre and film productions
| notable_works = The Round Up (1911)
Oh, Boy (1919)
Within Our Gates (1920)
The Brute (1920)
}}
Mattie Edwards (1866–1944) was an American actress who appeared in vaudeville theatre shows and early silent film productions from the 1880s through the 1930s. An African-American, she grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas and spent her early life as a Deputy Marshal for the town. Later, she joined the P. G. Lowery minstrel group and then films produced by Essanay Studios. She moved between multiple film studios in the years following, including Williams and Walker Co. films in the 1900s, Lubin Motion Picture Company and Ebony Film Company films in the 1910s, before ending her major roles in Comstock-Elliot company and Oscar Micheaux films in the 1920s. She had several smaller film roles and ongoing theatre roles in the decades after, before dying in 1944 at the age of 78.
Career
While spending her childhood in the American frontier, Edwards was appointed a Deputy Marshal at the age of 16 for the town of Fort Smith, Arkansas. As a part of the fort's criminal court at the time, she assisted in the Dalton Gang's arrest.{{cite news |author= |date=February 9, 1913 |title=She Has Atmosphere |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-she-has-atmosp/143642673/ |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |access-date=March 19, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her earliest theatre performances were appearances in P. G. Lowery's minstrel group beginning in 1887. The first film debut for Edwards was in the silent film era with Ben Turpin while he still worked out of a loft at Essanay Studios.{{cite news |author= |date=May 29, 1929 |title=Mattie Edwards Has Long Stage Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-mattie-edwards-has/143642331/ |work=The Los Angeles Times |access-date=March 18, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}} She also starred as the leading chorus member for Williams and Walker Co. films, particularly in their 1903 production of In Dahomey.{{cite news |author= |date=May 31, 1935 |title=Sepia Played Important Part In Film Industry During Its Infancy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/metropolitan-news-sepia-played-important/143835099/ |work=Metropolitan News |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was also highly noted in the 1911–1912 production of The Roundup by Klaw and Erlanger.
Edwards joined the Lubin Motion Picture Company from 1913 to 1915 as the female lead for their productions and fully "colored" cast,{{cite book |last=Sampson |first=Henry T. |date=1995 |title=Blacks In Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films |url=https://archive.org/details/blacksinblackwhi0000samp |publisher=Scarecrow Press |pages=28, 52-53, 76, 84-85, 100-101, 104, 114|isbn=978-0-8108-2605-2 }}{{cite journal |author= |date=1973 |title=Lubin Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Ic4AAAAMAAJ |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=88 |pages=60 |access-date=March 17, 2024}} frequently being paired up with John "Junk" Edwards as her accompanying male lead. After the Lubin Company's closure, she joined the Griffin Sisters theatre tour in 1917 as the leading contralto.{{cite news |author= |date=January 18, 1917 |title=Theatrical Jottings |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-age-theatrical-jottings/143790712/ |work=The New York Age |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}} She then joined theatrical productions made by the Ebony Film Company in 1918.{{cite magazine |author= |title=Ebony Films In New Studio Quarters |url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew18moti_5 |magazine=Motion Picture News |publisher=William A. Johnston |date=July 27, 1918 |page=601 |access-date=March 23, 2024}} For the 1919-1920 run of Oh Boy, Edwards joined a special theatre group formed by the Comstock-Elliot company.{{cite news |author= |date=February 3, 1920 |title="Oh Boy" Coming To Majestic |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-deming-headlight-oh-boy-coming-to/143841981/ |work=The Deming Headlight |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}} That same year, she featured in Oscar Micheaux films including Within Our Gates and The Brute. After, she moved to Los Angeles and occasionally starred in more minor film roles in the following two decades.
Theatre
- The Candy Kid (1908){{cite news |author= |date=January 14, 1908 |title="The Candy Kid" at Blaney's |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-the-candy-kid-at/143844578/ |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- The Virginian as Mrs. Henry
- Checkers as Aunt Deb
- As Ye Sow as Mrs. St. John
- The Round Up (1911) as Josephine
- Getting Her Rights (1915) as Marguerite Smith{{cite news |author= |date=November 9, 1915 |title="Getting Her Rights" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-berkshire-eagle-getting-her-rights/143789016/ |work=The Berkshire Eagle |access-date=March 20, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- My Killarney Rose (1916) as Nora Donovan{{cite news |author= |date=October 25, 1916 |title=At The Auditorium |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-waco-times-herald-at-the-auditorium/143847697/ |work=The Waco Times-Herald |access-date=March 22, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1918) as Mrs. Schultz{{cite news |last=Robertson |first=Max |date=April 2, 1918 |title=Audience Enjoys Character Play |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/harrisburg-telegraph-audience-enjoys-cha/143854675/ |work=Harrisburg Telegraph |access-date=March 22, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- Oh, Boy (1919){{cite news |author= |date=January 29, 1919 |title=At The Auditorium |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-news-at-the-auditorium/143828317/ |work=The Charlotte News |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}} as Mrs. Carter{{cite news |author= |date=December 21, 1919 |title="Oh, Boy!" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-anaconda-standard-oh-boy/143856310/ |work=The Anaconda Standard |access-date=March 22, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- Ladies Night (1923){{cite news |author= |date=August 5, 1923 |title=Woman-Fearing Young Benedict in 'Ladies Night' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-woman-f/143862913/ |work=The Central New Jersey Home News |access-date=March 22, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- Why The Bachelor? (1924){{cite news |author= |date=November 4, 1924 |title="Why The Bachelor?" At The Alhambra |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-why-the-bachel/143864148/ |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |access-date=March 23, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- Seduction (1925){{cite news |author= |date=February 24, 1925 |title=Name Is Only Wrong Part Of 'Seduction' Now Playing Run At Academy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-tribune-name-is-only-wrong-par/143830979/ |work=The Scranton Times-Tribune |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- The Devil Within (1927){{cite news |last=Newman |first=Claude |date=May 30, 1927 |title=Virginia Duncan and David Callis Win Praise For Work |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-citizen-news-virgini/143795809/ |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- This World and the Next (1929) as Rosie
- The Bird of Flame (1930){{cite news |author= |date=October 27, 1930 |title=Seen Nov. 9 At Belasco |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-post-record-seen-nov/143864463/ |work=Los Angeles Evening Post-Record |access-date=March 23, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Filmography
- Zeb, Zack and the Zulus (1913){{cite book |last=Massa |first=Steve |date=July 2017 |title=Slapstick Divas: The Women of Silent Comedy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xtCKDwAAQBAJ |publisher=BearManor Media |page=1931 |isbn=9781629331324}}
- Mandy's Chicken Dinner (1914) as Aunt Mandy
- Sam and the Bully (1914) as Mattie
- Swami Sam (1914) as Mattie
- Coon Town Suffragettes (1914){{cite news |author= |date=April 25, 1914 |title=Coon Town Suffragettes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-register-coon-town-suffragettes/143824485/ |work=The Orange County Register |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}} as Mandy Jackson
- The Tale of a Chicken (1914)
- The Rise of the Johnsons (1914)
- He Said He Could Act (1914){{cite news |author= |date=September 12, 1914 |title="He Said He Could Act" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sheboygan-press-he-said-he-could-ac/143823571/ |work=The Sheboygan Press |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- He Was Bad (1914){{cite news |author= |date=December 5, 1914 |title=He Was Bad |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-appeal-he-was-bad/143824204/ |work=The Daily Appeal |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- Rastus Knew It Wasn't (1914) as Nita Nonenti
- Just A Note (1914){{cite book |last=Richards |first=Larry |date=1998 |title=African American Films Through 1959: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Filmography |url=https://archive.org/details/africanamericanf0000rich |publisher=McFarland & Company |pages=97, 124, 149, 166|isbn=978-0-7864-0307-3 }}
- The Haunted Attic (1915){{cite news |author= |date=May 7, 1915 |title=Another All Colored Comedy At Movie Theater |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-st-louis-argus-another-all-colored/143846382/ |work=The St. Louis Argus |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- The Rakoon Hose Company (1915){{cite journal |author= |date=August 21, 1915 |title=Comments On The Films |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUs_AAAAYAAJ |journal=The Moving Picture World |volume=25 |issue=7–9 |pages=1316 |access-date=March 18, 2024}}
- It Happened on Washday (1915){{cite journal |author= |date=1915 |title=Answer Department |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBIXAQAAMAAJ |journal=Motion Picture Story Magazine |volume=10 |pages=140 |access-date=March 18, 2024}}
- The Undertaker's Daughter (1915){{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMWHEAAAQBAJ |title=Horror Noire: A History of Black American Horror from the 1890s to Present |first=Robin R. Means |last=Coleman |date=November 2022 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781000775167}}
- Black Art (1915)
- Father Said He'd Fix It (1915){{cite magazine |author= |title=Comments on the Films |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZ0sAAAAYAAJ |magazine=The Moving Picture World |publisher=Chalmers Publishing Company |date=July 10, 1915 |volume=25 |issue=1–3 |access-date=March 23, 2024}}
- In Zululand (1915) as Queen Cocoa
- A New Way To Win (1915)
- Under a Barrel (1916)
- Good Luck in Old Clothes (1918){{cite magazine |author= |title=Ebony Completes Two New Subjects |url=https://archive.org/details/movwor37chal |magazine=Motion Picture News |publisher=William A. Johnston |date=July 13, 1918 |page=231 |access-date=March 23, 2024}}
- Within Our Gates (1920) as Jasper Landry's wife{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npbBCwAAQBAJ |title=Oscar Micheaux and His Circle: African-American Filmmaking and Race Cinema of the Silent Era |isbn=9780253021557 |editor-last1=Musser |editor-first1=Charles |editor-last2=Gaines |editor-first2=Jane Marie |editor-last3=Bowser |editor-first3=Pearl |date=March 28, 2016 |pages=ix, 64, 233, 236-238, 349 |publisher=Indiana University Press |access-date=March 18, 2024}}
- The Brute (1920)
- Give Us the Night (1936) as Elena{{cite news |author= |date=May 10, 1936 |title="Give Us This Night" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-city-star-give-us-this-night/143932658/ |work=The Kansas City Star |access-date=March 23, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
- Champagne Waltz (1937)
Personal life
Edwards married Edward Settle and changed her personal name to Martha Mattie Settle. She died in 1944 at the age of 78.{{cite news |author= |date=July 7, 1944 |title=Conduct Services For Stage Figure |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-southwest-wave-conduct-services-for/143840623/ |work=The Southwest Wave |access-date=March 21, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American silent film actresses
Category:20th-century African-American actresses
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:19th-century African-American women
Category:People from Fort Smith, Arkansas