Mary Jane Lee (September 4, 1848 – August 5, 1925; known professionally as Jennie Lee) was an American actress of the stage and screen.
Lee appeared in more than 50 films between 1912 and 1924, working especially in character parts under the directors John Ford and D. W. Griffith. She began her stage career at age nine and went on to support such actors as John Edward McCullough, Joseph Jefferson, Edwin Booth, and Helena Modjeska.Motion Picture Studio Directory, 1921, p. 146 She and her husband, actor William Courtright, appeared together in Griffith's Intolerance (1916). Lee portrayed Mammy in The Birth of a Nation (1915). Another notable performance of the actress occurs in Lloyd Ingraham's A Child of the Paris Streets, in which she portrays Madame Dufrane.
Selected filmography
The Mothering Heart (Griffith, 1913, Short) - The Wash Customer The Sorrowful Shore (Griffith, 1913, Short) - On Shore (uncredited) Two Men of the Desert (Griffith, 1913, Short) - Old Indian Woman The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (Griffith, 1913, Short) - The Waifs' Guardian Judith of Bethulia (Griffith, 1913) - Bethulian The Yaqui Cur (1913) as Yaqui Woman Almost a Wild Man (1913) as In Audience Brute Force (Griffith, 1914, Short) - Cavewoman The Birth of a Nation (Griffith, 1915) - Mammy - The Faithful Servant The Slave Girl (Browning, 1915, Short) Her Shattered Idol (1915) - Ben's Mother A Child of the Paris Streets (1916) - Madame Dufrane An Innocent Magdalene (Dwan, 1916) - Mammy Pillars of Society (1916) - Nurse (uncredited) Intolerance (1916) - Woman at Jenkins Employees Dance (uncredited) The Little Liar (1916) - Boardinghouse Keeper The Children Pay (Ingraham, 1916) - Susan - the Girls' Governess Nina, the Flower Girl (Ingraham, 1917) - Nina's grandmother Stage Struck (Morrissey, 1917) - Mrs. Teedles A Woman's Awakening (1917) - Mammie Her Official Fathers (1917) - Aunt Lydia Souls Triumphant (O'Brien, 1917) Madame Bo-Peep (1917) - Housekeeper The Innocent Sinner (1917) - Mother Ellis The Clever Mrs. Carfax (1917) - Mrs. Mary Keyes Sandy (1918) - Aunt Melvy Riders of Vengeance (Ford, 1919) - Harry's Mother Bill Henry (Storm, 1919) - Aunt Martha Jenkins Rider of the Law (Ford, 1919) - Jim's Mother The Secret Gift (1920) - Aunt Soiphie The Big Punch (Ford, 1921) - Buck's Mother One Man in a Million (1921) - Mrs. Koppel North of Hudson Bay (Ford, 1923) - Mother Dane Young Ideas (1924) - Grandma Hearts of Oak (Ford, 1924) - Grandma Dunnivan
Resources
External links