Mrs. Anna Townsend (January 5, 1845[citation needed] – September 11, 1923) was a silent film actress who first turned to acting as a career very late in life. Featured in several Harold Lloyd films,[1] Townsend is probably best known for her role as Harold's good-hearted grandmother in Grandma's Boy (1922).[2] That film was developed around Townsend's personality.[3]

Anna Townsend
Townsend (right) with Harold Lloyd in Grandma's Boy
Born(1845-01-05)January 5, 1845
DiedSeptember 11, 1923(1923-09-11) (aged 78)
Los Angeles, California, US
OccupationActress
Years active1913-1923
Children1

Early life and career

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Townsend was born in Utica, New York. She moved from there to Los Angeles in 1885. Her film career began in 1919.[1]

According to a 1922 profile published in the Los Angeles Evening Express, Townsend's sole acting experience prior to her brief silent screen heyday was an even briefer pre-Civil War tour of duty with the Holman Light Opera Company.[4] This was in large part corroborated the following year by the Sacramento Bee, whose obituary for Townsend states that the actress's emergence "three years ago" constituted the first time "she [had] ever considered pursuing acting as a profession."[3]

Personal life and death

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Married at least once and predeceased by her husband,[5] Mrs. Townsend died on September 11, 1923, at her home in Los Angeles,[6] apparently due to an unspecified illness contracted two months earlier while sightseeing at Yosemite National Park.[3]

She was survived, at the very least, by one grown child, a daughter.[7][6] Moreover, judging from a profile of Townsend published that spring, in which references made to both "grown-up children" and "grandchildren" figure prominently,[5] there were almost certainly additional survivors.

Filmography

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Film
Year Film Role Notes
1913 The Hoyden's Awakening Unknown role (as Mrs. Anna Townsend)
1914 The Real Thing in Cowboys Mrs. Mitchell
1917 A Marked Man Harry's Mother (as Mrs. Townsend) Lost film
1918 Three Mounted Men Harry's Mother (as Mrs. Anna Townsend) Lost film
1921 Beyond the Trail Unknown role Uncredited
1922 Grandma's Boy His Grandma
1922 Dr. Jack Jamison's Mother Uncredited
1923 Daddy Mrs. Holden
1923 Safety Last! very small woman at the Sale Uncredited
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1989 American Masters Harold's Grandmother in 'Grandma's Boy' Archive footage, posthumously release, episode: Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius

References

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  1. ^ a b "Aged Film Actress Is Dead Here". Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1923. p. II 10.
  2. ^ Klepper, Robert K. (2005). Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-7864-2164-0. Josephine Crowell as the mother-in-law does in Hot Water what Anna Townsend did for Grandma's Boy (1922); she steals the show in virtually every sequence she appears in.
  3. ^ a b c "Anna Townsend, Screen's Best Known Grandma, Dead". The Sacramento Bee. September 29, 1923. p. 39. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "'Grandma' Anna Townsend Is 79, Spry as Cricket". Los Angeles Evening Express. June 10, 1922. p. 9. Retrieved April 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Grandma Adored at Roach Studio". Daily Gazette-Martinez. April 4, 1923. p. 4. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Mrs. Anna Townsend [is] an adorable little lady who boasts of her seventy-nine summers. Mrs. Townsend is a widow who lives in a spic-and-span house, quite independent of her grown-up children. [...] She worked for two years at the studio before letting her children know about it. One day there was a family party at the theatre. 'Oh, there's our Granny,' one of the grandchildren cried.
  6. ^ a b "Anna Townsend, Actress, Dies". The Times Herald. Michigan, Port Huron. September 12, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved March 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
  7. ^ "Anna Townsend". The New York Times. September 13, 1923. p. 19. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
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