Mary Duncan
Birthday: 1895-08-13
Place of Birth:
Synopsis
From Wikipedia
Mary Duncan (August 13, 1895 – May 9, 1993) was an American actress.
Mary Duncan was born in Northumberland county, Virginia, the sixth of eight children born to Capt. William "Bill" Dungan and his wife, the former Ada Thaddeus Douglass. She attended Cornell University before settling on acting as a career.
She began her career as a child actress playing on the Broadway stage from 1910. In 1926 she played the daughter "Poppy" in the smash hit and controversial play The Shanghai Gesture. Florence Reed played her mother called Mother Goddam in which Reed kills Duncan in a startling end to the play. This play was turned into a very sanitized film in 1941 with Gene Tierney.
She met and married Stephen "Laddie" Sanford, who was an international polo player as well as director of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company, in 1933, after which she retired from films. They remained married until his death in 1977. She spent much of her remaining years working with several major charities.
Her last film appearance was with Katharine Hepburn in the 1933 film Morning Glory.
She kept herself active by playing golf twice a week and swimming every morning before breakfast, which helped her maintain her size 8 figure. As an actress, she had followed the ministrations of Sylvia of Hollywood to keep her shape.
Mary Duncan died in her sleep aged 97. She was survived by a niece and great-niece, and she was the last known person to have in her possession a copy of the lost Murnau film 4 Devils; Martin Koerber, curator of Deutsche Kinemathek, has speculated that her heirs may still have the valuable print somewhere.
Acting
Morning Glory
as Rita Vernon
Wildly optimistic chatterbox Eva Lovelace is a would-be actress trying to crash the New York stage. She attracts the interest of a paternal actor, a philandering producer, and an earnest playwright. Is she destined for stardom, or will she fade like a morning glory after its brief blooming?
Thirteen Women
as June Raskob
Thirteen women who were schoolmates ask a swami to cast their horoscopes. The news they receive is not good for any of them.
Men Call It Love
as Helen
Pre-code melodrama about high society marriage and fidelity.
Five and Ten
as Muriel Preston
John owns the largest chain of five and ten cent stores in the country. He moves his family to New York from Kansas City and their life, though grand, is falling apart due to his constant working. Wife and mother Jenny is lonely. Son Avery hates his job. Daughter Jennifer is snubbed by classmate Muriel and her friends. At a charity bazaar, Jennifer meets Berry and sparks are evident. However, he is engaged to Muriel and Muriel will make sure that she, and only she, marries Berry. After the marriage, Berry still thinks of Jennifer as Jennifer thinks of Berry. Avery laments about the state of his family since they were happy in Kansas City.
City Girl
as Kate
A waitress from Chicago falls in love with a man from rural Minnesota and marries him, with the intent of living a better life - but life on the farm has its own challenges.
Kismet
as Zeleekha
Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself. This film is believed lost.
The River
as Rosalee
Passion carried an innocent boy and a worldly woman beyond the barriers of conscience.