Emma Dunn
Emma Dunn was an English actress. After starting her acting career on stage in London, she became known for her works in numerous films and Broadway productions.
Career
Emma Dunn appeared onstage in her early teens, graduating to the London stage for several years and later became a noted Broadway actress. She appeared in the first American production of Ibsen's Peer Gynt with Richard Mansfield as Peer. She played Peer's mother, Ase, even though she was, in real life, 20 years younger than Mansfield. She appeared in three productions for theatre impresario David Belasco: The Warrens of Virginia, The Easiest Way and The Governor's Lady. In The Easiest Way, Dunn portrayed Annie, who was black, in blackface. In 1913 Dunn appeared in vaudeville.Dunn made her first film in 1914, a silent film of her 1910 stage success, Mother, directed by Maurice Tourneur. This was Tourneur's first American film. Dunn's second film was 1920's Old Lady 31, reprising the role she played in the 1916 Broadway play of the same name. One more silent film followed in 1924, Pied Piper Malone, and then she made her sound debut in Side Street, co-starring the Moore brothers, Matt, Owen and Tom as her sons.
Dunn wrote two books on elocution and speech: Thought Quality in the Voice and You Can Do It.
Personal life
Emma Dunn was born 26 February 1875, in Birkenhead, England, although she sometimes gave her year of birth as 1883.Dunn married Harry Beresford, an actor who was then known professionally as Harry J. Morgan, in Chicago on 4 October 1897. They divorced on 10 February 1909, in New York City. She was awarded sole custody of their young daughter, Dorothy. On 19 May 1909, Dunn married John W. Stokes, an actor, playwright and theatrical manager. They subsequently adopted a second daughter, Helen. The couple divorced sometime between 1923 and Stokes' death in 1931.
After suffering a heart attack some months before, Dunn died 14 December 1966 in Los Angeles, California, aged 91.
Theatre credits
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1914 | Mother | Mrs. Wetherell | |
| 1920 | Old Lady 31 | Angie Rose | |
| 1924 | Pied Piper Malone | Mother Malone | |
| 1929 | Side Street | Mrs. O'Farrell | |
| 1930 | Manslaughter | Miss Bennett | |
| 1931 | Bad Sister | Mrs. Madison | |
| 1931 | Compromised | Mrs. Squires | |
| 1931 | ' | Nina | |
| 1931 | Morals for Women | Mrs. Hutson | |
| 1931 | ' | Mrs. Cynthia Farraday | |
| 1931 | ' | Señora Ibarra | |
| 1931 | This Modern Age | Mrs. Blake | |
| 1931 | Too Young to Marry | Jennie Bumpsted | |
| 1931 | Under Eighteen | Mrs. Evans | |
| 1932 | Blessed Event | Mrs. Roberts | |
| 1932 | Broken Lullaby | Mrs. Miller | |
| 1932 | ' | Mrs. Sarah Cohen | |
| 1932 | Hell's House | Emma Clark | |
| 1932 | It's Tough to Be Famous | "Moms" McClenahan | |
| 1932 | Letty Lynton | Mrs. Darrow | |
| 1932 | ' | Mrs. Sally Chilcote | |
| 1932 | When a Fellow Needs a Friend | Kind lady | |
| 1933 | Elmer, the Great | Mrs. Kane | |
| 1933 | Grand Slam | Sob sister | |
| 1933 | Hard to Handle | Mrs. Hawks | |
| 1933 | It's Great to Be Alive | Mrs. Wilton | |
| 1933 | ' | Mrs. Russell | |
| 1933 | Private Jones | Mrs. Jones | |
| 1934 | Dark Hazard | Mrs. Mayhew | |
| 1934 | Dr. Monica | Mrs. Monahan | |
| 1934 | Flirtation | Mrs. Poole | |
| 1934 | ' | Cordelia Tilford | |
| 1935 | Another Face | Sheila's mother | |
| 1935 | ' | Mother of Alan | |
| 1935 | George White's 1935 Scandals | Aunt Jane | |
| 1935 | ' | "Mom" | |
| 1935 | ' | Margaret Campbell | |
| 1935 | Ladies Crave Excitement | Mary Phelan | |
| 1935 | Little Big Shot | Matron | |
| 1935 | Seven Keys to Baldpate | Mrs. Quimby | |
| 1935 | This Is the Life | Mrs. Davis | |
| 1936 | ' | Granny Moreland | |
| 1936 | Mr. Deeds Goes to Town | Mrs. Meredith, Deed's housekeeper | Uncredited |
| 1936 | Second Wife | Mrs. Brown | |
| 1937 | Circus Girl | Molly | |
| 1937 | ' | Housekeeper | |
| 1937 | Madame X | Rose | |
| 1937 | Varsity Show | Mrs. Smith | |
| 1937 | Waikiki Wedding | Old woman | |
| 1937 | When You're in Love | Mrs. Hamilton | |
| 1938 | ' | Ma Hawkins | |
| 1938 | Cowboy from Brooklyn | Ma Hardy | |
| 1938 | ' | Laura McCoy | |
| 1938 | ' | Mrs. West | |
| 1938 | Lord Jeff | Mrs. Briggs | |
| 1938 | Thanks for the Memory | Mrs. Platt | |
| 1938 | Three Loves Has Nancy | Mrs. Briggs | |
| 1938 | Young Dr. Kildare | Martha Kildare | |
| 1939 | Calling Dr. Kildare | Martha Kildare | |
| 1939 | Each Dawn I Die | Mrs. Ross | |
| 1939 | Hero for a Day | "Mom" Higgins | |
| 1939 | ' | Dona Teresa | |
| 1939 | ' | Martha Kildare | |
| 1939 | Son of Frankenstein | Amelia | |
| 1940 | Dance, Girl, Dance | Mrs. Simpson | |
| 1940 | Dr. Kildare Goes Home | Martha Kildare | |
| 1940 | Dr. Kildare's Crisis | Martha Kildare | |
| 1940 | Dr. Kildare's Strange Case | Martha Kildare | |
| 1940 | ' | Mrs. Jaeckel | |
| 1940 | Half a Sinner | Granny Gladden | |
| 1940 | High School | Mrs. O'Neill | |
| 1940 | Little Orvie | Mrs. Welty | |
| 1940 | One Crowded Night | Ma | |
| 1940 | Yesterday's Heroes | Aunt Winnie | |
| 1940 | You Can't Fool Your Wife | Mrs. Fields | |
| 1941 | Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day | Martha Kildare | |
| 1941 | Ladies in Retirement | Sister Theresa | |
| 1941 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Martha | |
| 1941 | ' | Aunt Della | |
| 1941 | ' | "Ma" McCormick | |
| 1941 | Rise and Shine | Mrs. Murray | |
| 1941 | Scattergood Baines | Mirandy Baines | |
| 1941 | Scattergood Meets Broadway | Mirandy Baines | |
| 1941 | Scattergood Pulls the Strings | Mirandy Baines | |
| 1942 | Babes on Broadway | Mrs. Williams | |
| 1942 | I Married a Witch | Wife of the justice of the peace | |
| 1942 | ' | Agnes | |
| 1942 | ' | Martha Carter | |
| 1942 | ' | Mrs. Shelley | |
| 1942 | When Johnny Comes Marching Home | Nora Flanagan | |
| 1943 | ' | Mme. Marchand | |
| 1943 | Hoosier Holiday | Molly Baker | |
| 1943 | Minesweeper | Mom | |
| 1943 | ' | Old lady | |
| 1944 | Are These Our Parents? | Ma Henderson | |
| 1944 | ' | Dona Mercedes | |
| 1944 | Irish Eyes Are Smiling | Mother Machree | |
| 1944 | It Happened Tomorrow | Mrs. Keever | |
| 1944 | My Buddy | Mary Ballinger | |
| 1945 | ' | Mrs. Smith | |
| 1945 | ' | Maggie | |
| 1946 | Night Train to Memphis | Mom Acuff | |
| 1947 | Life with Father | Margaret, the cook | |
| 1947 | Mourning Becomes Electra | Mrs. Borden | |
| 1948 | Mrs. Vesey |