Carroll McComas
Carroll McComas (June 27, 1886 – November 9, 1962) was an American stage, film, and television actress.[1]
Carroll McComas | |
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![]() McComas in 1920 | |
Born | Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. | June 27, 1886
Died | November 9, 1962 76) | (aged
Other names | Carol McComas |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1904 - 1959 |
Spouse(s) | Walter Enright (1922-1928) Selskarr M. Gunn (1933-1944 his death) |
Biography
She was the daughter of Judge C. C. McComas and wife Ellen Moore.[2]
McComas began acting while still in her teens, playing more than two dozen roles on the Broadway stage. In 1918, she played May Barber in the Princess Theatre musical Oh, Lady! Lady!! by Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse. Her greatest personal stage triumphs were as the title character in Miss Lulu Bett, by Zona Gale, in the 1920–21 season and as Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac in the 1923–24 season. Her last Broadway role was in 1950 as Catherine Petkoff in Arms and the Man.[3]
Her film roles were few and far between. She made her silent movie debut in 1916 in When Love Is King, a still extant film.[4] Her second and last silent film came in 1920 in Jack Straw directed by William C. deMille and based on a 1908 stage play W. Somerset Maugham that starred John Drew, Jr. and Mary Boland. This movie still survives.[5]
McComas interrupted her acting career after marrying Selskar M Gunn, Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1933. Gunn died in 1944 and McComas returned to the stage in 1950 and to film in 1953 to play a supporting role in Jamaica Run where she appeared as the mother of Wendell Corey and Arlene Dahl. She then appeared steadily in television roles through the 1950s.[6]
Partial filmography
- When Love Is King (1916)
- Jack Straw (1920)
- Jamaica Run (1953)
- Chicago Syndicate (1955)
References
- Great Actors & Actresses of the American Stage in Historic Photographs p.96 bio 249 c.1983 ; edited by Stanley Appelbaum
- Who Was Who in the Theatre: 1912–1976 volume 3 I-P page 1,656 c.1976 (compiled from editions originally published annually by John Parker)
- "Carroll McComas", Internet Broadway Database, accessed July 28, 2016
- The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: When Love Is King
- The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Jack Straw
- IMDb film & television list
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carroll McComas. |
- Carroll McComas papers, 1914-1962, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- Carroll McComas and Leonore Harris on RMS Berengaria 1925 (Wayback Machine version)
- Carroll McComas at the Internet Broadway Database
- Carroll McComas at IMDb
- Carroll McComas, images held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts