Frances Grant Starr (June 6, 1881 – June 11, 1973) was an American stage, film and television actress.
Early years Starr's parents were Charles Edward Starr and Emma (née Grant). She had two half sisters, and her father died when she was a child.
Career Starr started in plays in 1901 in an Albany stock company, in which Lionel Barrymore and Alison Skipworth were members. She starred opposite Charles Richman as Nell Colfax in David Gray's Gallops at the Garrick Theatre in 1906. Later that year she signed with David Belasco and appeared in a small role with David Warfield in The Music Master.
In November 1906, she appeared along with another young actress, Jane Cowl, in The Rose of the Rancho. She achieved her breakout stage role in 1909 in Belasco's production of The Easiest Way. Starr continued to have a string of successes such as The Case of Becky (1912) and Shore Leave (1922).
She delivered a standout role as the wronged mother in Five Star Final (1931), an early talkie about newspaper corruption. It was her second of only three sound films.Frances Starr; AllMovie.com bio by Hans J. Wollstein Lastly she appeared in This Reckless Age (1932) with Buddy Rogers and Richard Bennett. On television, Starr appeared on Studio One, Omnibus, Kraft Television Theatre and other programs.
Starr's Broadway credits included The Ladies of the Corridor (1953), The Sacred Flame (1952), The Long Days (1951), The Young and Fair (1948), Claudia (1941), The Good (1938), Field of Ermine (1935), Lady Jane (1934), Moor Born (1934), The Lake (1933), Diplomacy (1928), Immoral Isabella? (1927), The Shelf (1926), Shore Leave (1922), The Easiest Way (1921), One (1920), Tiger! Tiger! (1918), Little Lady in Blue (1916), Marie-Odile (1915), The Secret (1914), The Secret (1913), The Case of Becky (1912), The Easiest Way (1909), The Rose of the Rancho (1906), Gallops (1906), and Nell Gwyn (1901).
Personal life Starr's marriages to artist William Haskell Coffin and banker R. Golden Donaldson ended in divorce. She was widowed by her third husband, attorney Emil C. Wetten.
Death Starr died on June 11, 1973, at her home at age 92.
Filmography Tiger Rose (1923) as Minor Role The Star Witness (1931) as Ma Leeds Five Star Final (1931) as Nancy 'Voorhees' Townsend This Reckless Age (1932) as Eunice Ingals Ford Theatre Hour (1949, TV Series) as Margaret 'Marmee' March Hallmark Hall of Fame (1952, TV Series) as Anna Warner Crime Photographer (1952, TV Series) Studio One (1952-1953, TV Series) as Mrs. Fairfax Omnibus (1953, TV Series) as Mother (segment "The Sojourner") Love Story (1954, TV Series) Center Stage (1954, TV Series) Mr. Citizen (1955, TV Series) as Sophie Farnham Kraft Television Theatre (1955, TV Series) as Nora The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse (1955, TV Series)
References
External links
"All-Star Cast on Cedric; Five Prominent Actresses Back for Work" (Frances Starr, Jane Cowl, Pamela Gaythorne, Dorothy Donnelly and Mrs LeMoyne return from European vacation on RMS Cedric); The New York Times, August 4, 1912 Frances Starr portrait gallery at New York Public Library Billy Rose digital collection Frances Starr (University of Washington, Sayre collection)