Acting · Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK · Born February 24, 1874
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Emma Dunn (26 February 1875 – 14 December 1966) was an English character actress on the stage and in motion pictures. Emma Dunn appeared onstage in her early teens, graduating to the London stage for several years and later became a noted Broadway actress. She appeared in the first American production of Ibsen's Peer Gynt (1906) with Richard Mansfield as Peer. She played Peer's mother, Ase, even though she was, in real life, 20 years younger than Mansfield. She appeared in three productions for theatre impresario David Belasco: The Warrens of Virginia (1907), The Easiest Way (1909) and The Governor's Lady (1912). In The Easiest Way, Dunn portrayed Annie, who was black, in blackface. In 1913 Dunn appeared in vaudeville. Dunn made her first film in 1914, a silent film of her 1910 stage success, Mother, directed by Maurice Tourneur. This was Tourneur's first American film. Dunn's second film was 1920's Old Lady 31, reprising the role she played in the 1916 Broadway play of the same name. One more silent film followed in 1924, Pied Piper Malone, before she made her talkie debut in Side Street, co-starring the Moore brothers, Matt, Owen and Tom as her sons. Dunn wrote two books on elocution and speech: Thought Quality in the Voice (1933) and You Can Do It (1947). Emma Dunn was born 26 February 1875, in Birkenhead, England, although she sometimes gave her year of birth as 1883. Dunn married Harry Beresford, an actor who was then known professionally as Harry J. Morgan, in Chicago on 4 October 1897. They divorced on 10 February 1909, in New York City. She was awarded sole custody of their young daughter, Dorothy. On 19 May 1909, Dunn married John W. Stokes (John W. S. Sullivan), an actor, playwright and theatrical manager. They subsequently adopted a second daughter, Helen. The couple divorced sometime between 1923 and Stokes' death in 1931. After suffering a heart attack some months before, Dunn died 14 December 1966, in Los Angeles, California, aged 91.
MovieThe Woman in White
1948
as Mrs. Vesey
MovieMourning Becomes Electra
1947
as Mrs. Borden
MovieLife with Father
1947
as Margaret
MovieThe Hoodlum Saint
1946
as Maggie
MovieMy Buddy
1944
as Mary Ballinger
Are These Our Parents?
1944
as Ma Henderson
MovieIt Happened Tomorrow
1944
as Mrs. Keaver (uncredited)
MovieThe Bridge of San Luis Rey
1944
as Doña Mercedes
MovieMinesweeper
1943
as Mom Smith
Hoosier Holiday
1943
as Molly Baker
MovieWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home
1942
as Ma Flanagan
MovieI Married a Witch
1942
as Wife of Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
MovieThe Talk of the Town
1942
as Mrs. Shelley
MovieThe Postman Didn't Ring
1942
as Martha Carter
MovieThe Mad Martindales
1942
as Agnes
MovieBabes on Broadway
1941
as Mrs. Williams
MovieRise and Shine
1941
as Mrs. Murray
MovieLadies in Retirement
1941
as Sister Theresa
MovieDr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941
as Mrs. Martha Kildare
MovieScattergood Meets Broadway
1941
as Mirandy Baines
MovieScattergood Pulls the Strings
1941
as Mirandy Baines
MovieThe Penalty
1941
as 'Ma' McCormick
MovieThe Monster and the Girl
1941
as Aunt Della (uncredited)
MovieScattergood Baines
1941
as Mirandy Baines
MovieMr. & Mrs. Smith
1941
as Martha
MovieThe Great Dictator
1940
as Mrs. Jaeckel
MovieYesterday's Heroes
1940
as Aunt Winnie
MovieDr. Kildare Goes Home
1940
as Mrs. Martha Kildare
MovieDance, Girl, Dance
1940
as Mrs. Simpson
MovieOne Crowded Night
1940
as Ma Matthews
MovieYou Can't Fool Your Wife
1940
as Mother Fields
MovieDr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940
as Martha Kildare
MovieHalf a Sinner
1940
as Granny Gladden
MovieLittle Orvie
1940
as Mrs. Welty
MovieHigh School
1940
as Mrs. O'Neill
MovieThe Llano Kid
1939
as Doña Teresa
MovieThe Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939
as Martha Kildare
MovieHero for a Day
1939
as Emmy "Moms" Higgins
MovieEach Dawn I Die
1939
as Mrs. Ross
MovieCalling Dr. Kildare
1939
as Mrs. Martha Kildare
MovieSon of Frankenstein
1939
as Amelia
MovieThe Duke of West Point
1938
as Mrs. West
MovieThe Cowboy and the Lady
1938
as Ma Hawkins
MovieThanks for the Memory
1938
as Mrs. Platt
MovieYoung Dr. Kildare
1938
as Mrs. Martha Kildare
MovieThree Loves Has Nancy
1938
as Mrs. Briggs
MovieCowboy from Brooklyn
1938
as Ma Hardy
MovieLord Jeff
1938
as Mrs. Briggs
MovieMadame X
1937
as Rose, Fleuriot's Houskeeper
MovieVarsity Show
1937
as Mrs. Smith
MovieHideaway
1937
as Emma Peterson
MovieThe Emperor's Candlesticks
1937
as Anna - Olga's Housekeeper
MovieWaikiki Wedding
1937
as Mother
MovieCircus Girl
1937
as Molly
MovieWhen You're in Love
1937
as Mrs. Hamilton
MovieSecond Wife
1936
as Mrs. Brown
The Harvester
1936
as Granny Moreland
MovieMr. Deeds Goes to Town
1936
as Mrs. Meredith (uncredited)
MovieAnother Face
1935
as Sheila's Mother (uncredited)
MovieSeven Keys to Baldpate
1935
as Mrs. Quimby
MovieThis Is the Life
1935
as Mrs. Davis
MovieLittle Big Shot
1935
as Orphanage Matron
MovieThe Keeper of the Bees
1935
as Margaret Campbell
MovieLadies Crave Excitement
1935
as Mrs. Phelan
MovieThe Glass Key
1935
as 'Mom' Madvig
MovieGeorge White's 1935 Scandals
1935
as Aunt Jane
MovieFlirtation
1934
as Mrs. Poole
MovieDr. Monica
1934
as Mrs. Monahan
MovieThe Quitter
1934
as Cordelia Tilford
MovieDark Hazard
1934
as Mrs. Mayhew
MovieA Man of Sentiment
1933
as Mrs. John Russell Sr.
MovieIt's Great to Be Alive
1933
as Mrs. Wilton
MovieElmer, the Great
1933
as Mrs. Kane
MoviePrivate Jones
1933
as Mrs. Jones
MovieGrand Slam
1933
as Reporter
MovieHard to Handle
1933
as Mrs. Hawks (uncredited)
MovieBlessed Event
1932
as Mrs. Roberts
MovieLetty Lynton
1932
as Mrs. Darrow
MovieIt's Tough to Be Famous
1932
as 'Moms' McClenahan
MovieThe Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1932
as Mrs. Sarah Cohen
MovieThe Wet Parade
1932
as Mrs. Chilcote
MovieHell's House
1932
as Emma Clark
MovieBroken Lullaby
1932
as Frau Miller
MovieUnder Eighteen
1932
as Mrs. Evans (uncredited)
MovieThe Guilty Generation
1931
as Nina Palmero
MovieCompromised
1931
as Mrs. Squires
MovieMorals for Women
1931
as Mrs. Hutson
MovieBad Company
1931
as Emma
MovieThis Modern Age
1931
as Margaret Blake
MovieToo Young to Marry
1931
as Mrs. Bumpstead
MovieThe Bad Sister
1931
as Mrs. Madison
MovieThe Prodigal
1931
as Mrs. Farraday
MovieManslaughter
1930
as Miss Bennett
MovieThe Texan
1930
as Señora Doña Marguerita Granadas-Ibarra
MovieSide Street
1929
as Nora O'Farrell
MoviePied Piper Malone
1924
as Mother Malone
MovieOld Lady 31
1920
as Angie Rose
Mother
1914
as Mrs. Wetherell
