Carroll McComas (June 27, 1886 – November 9, 1962) was an American stage, film, and television actress.[1]
Carroll McComas | |
|---|---|
 McComas in 1920 | |
| Born | June 27, 1886 Albuquerque, New Mexico Territory, U.S. |
| Died | November 9, 1962 (aged 76) |
| Other names | Carol McComas |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1904–1959 |
| Spouse(s) | Walter Enright (1922–1928; divorced) Selskarr M. Gunn (1933–1944; his death) |
Biography
editBorn in Albuquerque, New Mexico Territory, McComas was the daughter of Judge Charles Carroll McComas[2] and his wife, Ellen Moore.[3] One of her ancestors was Charles Carroll of Carrollton.[2]
In 1907, McComas debuted on stage.[2] During a weekend, she performed a whistling act at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, but she returned to school after that Monday's first matinee.[4] She became a dancer, singer, and whistler in vaudeville, with whistling as her specialty. She performed as a whistler in London and on a tour of South Africa.[2]
She went on to play more than two dozen roles on Broadway . In 1918, she played May Barber in the Princess Theatre musical Oh, Lady! Lady!! by Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse. Her greatest personal stage triumphs were as the title character in Miss Lulu Bett, by Zona Gale, in the 1920–21 season and as Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac in the 1923–24 season. Her last Broadway role was in 1950 as Catherine Petkoff in Arms and the Man.[5]
She made her silent movie debut in 1916 in When Love Is King, a still extant film.[6] Her second and last silent film came in 1920 in Jack Straw.This movie still survives.[7] Other films in which she appeared included The Miracle Worker. She also appeared on television.[2]
In 1922, McComas married cartoonist Walter Enright; they divorced in 1928.[2]
McComas interrupted her acting career after marrying Selskar M Gunn, a vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1933.[2] Gunn died in 1944 and McComas returned to the stage in 1950 and to film in 1953 to play a supporting role in Jamaica Run where she appeared as the mother of Wendell Corey and Arlene Dahl.
On November 9, 1962, McComas died at her home in New York City, aged 76.[2]
Theater
edit- You Can't Win (1926)[8]
Partial filmography
edit- When Love Is King (1916)
- Jack Straw (1920)
- Jamaica Run (1953)
- Chicago Syndicate (1955)
References
edit- ^ Great Actors & Actresses of the American Stage in Historic Photographs p.96 bio 249 c.1983 ; edited by Stanley Appelbaum
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Carroll McComas Dies at 76; Actress Began Career in 1907". The New York Times. November 10, 1962. p. 19. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
- ^ Who Was Who in the Theatre: 1912–1976 volume 3 I-P page 1,656 c.1976 (compiled from editions originally published annually by John Parker)
- ^ "Plays and Players". The World Court: 177–178. October 1916.
- ^ "Carroll McComas", Internet Broadway Database, accessed July 28, 2016
- ^ "When Love Is King". April 5, 1916. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via memory.loc.gov.
- ^ "Jack Straw". April 5, 1920. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via memory.loc.gov.
- ^ "Carroll McComas (Performer) | Playbill". Retrieved April 5, 2023.
External links
edit
- Carroll McComas papers, 1914-1962, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- Carroll McComas and Leonore Harris on RMS Berengaria 1925 (Wayback Machine version)
- Carroll McComas at the Internet Broadway Database
- Carroll McComas at IMDb
- Carroll McComas, images held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts