America Chedister (October 21, 1895 – November 1, 1975), maiden name America Cooney, was an American actress and singer in musical theatre.
Born in St. Clair Township, Benton County, Iowa, Chedister was the daughter of Thomas Cooney and his wife Frances McFadden. Her stage name came from her maternal grandmother, America Susannah Chidester. She was discovered by Edward H. Griffith while working as a showgirl, and they married.
Chedister's film career ran between 1921 and 1926. In 1922 she appeared in The Sea Riders, a moving picture written and directed by her husband, set in a Cape Breton fishing village.Peter Morris, Embattled Shadows: A History of Canadian Cinema, 1895-1939 (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1978, reprinted 1991), p. 86"Griffith, Edward H." in Antonio Mendez, Guía de Cine Clásico: Protagonistas (2006), p. 141 (in Spanish): "...casado con la actriz America Chedister"
In 1923 at the Globe Theatre on Broadway, she originated the part of Mrs. DePuyster Fish in the musical comedy Jack and Jill.Dan Dietz, The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals (2019), p. 153The New York Times Theater Reviews Vol. 2 (1972), p. 162
In 1929, Edward Griffith bought a one-acre plot in a new area of Laguna Beach, California, called Three Arch Bay, and by 1932 had built one of the first houses there as a beach getaway. Called "The Lugger", the building included porthole windows and stairs salvaged from ships. The Map Room came from a ship called the Mary Dollar, and the Griffiths built a lighthouse between the house and the sea, as well as two separate guesthouses. The property was used for entertaining many guests, who included Lionel Barrymore and Claudette Colbert, and in retirement the Griffiths lived there until their deaths. The property is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Dianne Russell, "The Griffith Three Arch Bay property added to National Register of Historic Places", Stu News Laguna, March 19, 2021, accessed 8 October 2023"A Little Piece of Hollywood History – Edward H. Griffith's Three Arch Bay Estate", Luxatic, updated August 31, 2017, accessed 8 October 2023
Chedister died at Laguna Beach in November 1975"Chedister, America: b. Iowa, 21 Oct 1895; d. South Laguna, CA, 1 Nov 1975" in Billy H. Doyle, The Ultimate Directory of the Silent Screen Performers (1995), p. 127Karen Wilson Turnbull, Three Arch Bay: an Illustrated History (Santa Ana: Friis-Pioneer Press, 1977), p. 12 and was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. In her will, she left money to the recently created Laguna Beach library, which was used to build a picture book room.Clara Beard, "Laguna Beach Library Celebrates its 50th Anniversary", Laguna Beach Library Independent, January 20, 2023, accessed October 12, 2023
A portrait of Chedister by Arnold Genthe dating from November 1921 is in the Library of Congress."Chedister, America, Miss, portrait photograph", Library of Congress, accessed 8 October 2023
Films Dawn of the East (1921) as Mariya"Chedister, America" in Richard P. Krafsur, Kenneth White Munden, The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States (1971), p. 1,013 Scrambled Wives (1921) as Mrs. Halsey A Stage Romance (1922) as Lady Anne Boyle Enemies of Women (1923) as French Beauty Atta Boy (1926) as Fashionable Woman
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External links
"America Chedister", Find a Grave "America Chedister", Playbill