Anne Seymour (actress)

Anne Seymour (September 11, 1909 – December 8, 1988) was an American film and television character actress.[1]

Anne Seymour
Seymour as Lucia Garret in Empire in 1962.
Born
Anne Seymour Eckert

(1909-09-11)September 11, 1909
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 8, 1988(1988-12-08) (aged 79)
Resting placeWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Other namesAnne Eckert
Anne Seymour Eckert
OccupationActor
Years active1944–1988
Parent(s)William Stanley Eckert
May Davenport Seymour Eckert

Personal life

Anne Seymour Eckert was born in Manhattan to William Stanley and May Davenport (née Seymour) Eckert (18831967)[2] an actress and later curator of the Museum of the City of New York. She was the seventh generation of a theatrical family traceable to 18th century Ireland. Seymour, her mother (May Davenport Seymour), and her brother (Bill Seymour) were all active in radio concurrently.[3]

Her great-uncle was character actor Harry Davenport, and her cousins were writer James Seymour and actor John Seymour. Seymour never married, and had no children.

Education

After attending St. Mary's for "her conventional education", Seymour studied at the American Laboratory Theatre.[4]

Death

She died of heart failure[5] at age 79 in Los Angeles, and is interred in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Career

Stage

Seymour's first professional activity as an entertainer came with the Jitney Players, for which she earned $15 per week.[4]

She was in four Broadway productions. She played in At the Bottom and Puppet Show, both in 1930, and in The School for Scandal in 1931. Almost three decades later, she played Mrs. Sara Delano Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello.[6]

Radio

Seymour debuted on radio in Cincinnati in 1932.[4] In the early 1940s, she played Prudence Dane, the leading female role in the "historic serial" A Woman of America[4] and starred as Mary Marlin in The Story of Mary Marlin, both on NBC.[3] She was also a member of the casts of Joyce Jordan, Girl Interne, Tom Bradley, Against the Storm, and King Arthur, Junior.[7]

Television

Seymour's first venture in television was a three-month role in Follow Your Heart, an NBC soap opera. "I hated every minute of it," she said.[8] She also "had a running part on a CBS soap opera called The First Hundred Years."[8] She played Mrs. Barr in season 1, episode 15 of My Three Sons in 1961. She later starred in Empire, a 1962-63 series set in the modern American West.[8] Turning her talents to comedy, she was a regular in The Tim Conway Show in 1970.[9]

She was a guest star on many American television series in the 1960s and 1970s. She appeared in two episodes of Perry Mason; in 1963 she played Hettie Randall in "The Case of the Festive Felon", and in 1964 she played Bonnie Mae Wilmet in "The Case of the Bullied Bowler". She portrayed Amelia Tarbell in Pollyanna (1960), Esther in the episode "Final Escape" of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985), and Miss Tilford in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. In a 1965 episode of Hazel entitled "A 'Lot' to Remember", she played Laura Kirkland.

She played Ms. Frost in "A Visit to Upright", a 1972 episode of Bonanza, as well as three different characters in four episodes of Gunsmoke: "Snow Train Parts 1 & 2", "The Wake", and "Kitty's Injury". In the spring of 1970, she was a regular cast member of the situation comedy The Tim Conway Show, playing airport and airline owner Mrs. K. J. Crawford during the show's 12-episode run. She guest-starred in the episode "Involvement" of Emergency! that first aired on January 24, 1976 (Season 5, Episode 17). She played the role of Millie Eastman, a retired head nurse of Rampart General who tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills. During her recovery at Rampart, she is placed in a semi-private room with Jean Clark (Dawn Lyn) to whom she starts mentoring for emotional support.

Film

An early film appearance by Seymour was in All the King's Men (1949) as Mrs. Lucy Stark.[10] She played the role of Grandma Beebe in the 1961 children's film classic Misty, a screen adaptation of Marguerite Henry's children's book, Misty of Chincoteague.[10][11] Her last performance was in 1988, in the feature film Field of Dreams, which was released after her death.[10]

Radio appearances

YearProgramEpisode/source
1946Inner Sanctum MysteryNo Rest for the Dead[12]
1948Quiet, Please Green Light

Film appearances

YearTitleRoleNotes
1949All the King's MenMrs. Lucy Stark
1951The Whistle at Eaton FallsMary London
1957Four Boys and a GunMrs. Richards
1957Man on FireJudge Randolph
1958The Gift of LoveMiss McMasters
1958Desire Under the ElmsEben's Mother
1958Handle with CareMatilda Iler
1960Home from the HillSarah Halstead
1960PollyannaMrs. Amelia Tarbell
1960All the Fine Young CannibalsMrs. Bixby
1960The SubterraneansCharlotte Percepied
1961MistyGrandma Beebe
1964Stage to Thunder RockMyra Parker
1964Good Neighbor SamIrene
1964Where Love Has GoneDr. Sally Jennings
1965MirageMrs. Frances Calvin
1966BlindfoldSmitty
1966WacoMa Jenner
1967How to Succeed in Business Without Really TryingGertrude BiggleyUncredited
1967FitzwillyGrimsby
1968Stay Away, JoeMrs. Hawkins
1969How to Commit MarriageMolly - Baby's NurseUncredited
1972The ManMa Blore
1973So Long, Blue BoyMartha
1974Seven AloneNarrator (adult Catherine)
1975Gemini AffairAgnes Wilson
1975Hearts of the WestNietz' HousekeeperUncredited
1980Never Never LandZena
1983Triumphs of a Man Called HorseElk Woman
1984TrancersChairman Ashe
1988Big Top Pee-weePearl
1989Field of DreamsChisolm Newspaper Publisher(final film role)

References

  1. Anne Seymour;MyHeritage.com
  2. American and British Theatrical Biography: A Directory, p.839 c.1979 by J. P. Wearing ISBN 0-8108-1201-0
  3. "Friday's Highlights" (PDF). Radio and Television Mirror. 14 (1): 52. May 1940. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  4. "American Woman's Pioneer Role Told In Radio Drama". The Lincoln Star. December 19, 1943. p. 32. Retrieved September 14, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  5. Quinlan's Film Character Actors: Anne Seymour
  6. "Anne Seymour". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  7. "Radio Mother". Harrisburg Telegraph. June 21, 1941. p. 26. Retrieved May 5, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  8. Stern, Harold (August 5, 1962). "Anne Seymour to Rule TV Ranch". Sunday Gazette-Mail. p. 53. Retrieved September 13, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  9. Penton, Edgar (February 21, 1970). "'Navy' Adversaries Run World's Worst Airlines". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. p. 16. Retrieved September 13, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
  10. IMDb - Anne Seymour, Filmography Retrieved 2015-08-07
  11. "History of Misty of Chincoteague", Misty's Heaven - Misty'sHeaven.com Retrieved 2015-08-07
  12. "Anne Seymour on "Inner Sanctum" Monday on WHP". Harrisburg Telegraph. November 23, 1946. p. 19. Retrieved September 13, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
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