Cecil Spooner

Cecil Spooner (January 29, 1875 – May 13, 1953) was an American actress, screenwriter, and film director who worked across stage, film, and television. Born in New York City, she was the daughter of Mary Gibbs Spooner, who operated a theater in Brooklyn.

Spooner's Broadway career began in 1903 with her New York theater debut in My Lady Peggy Goes to Town and extended through 1933. Among her stage credits were starring roles in The Girl from Texas, The Girl and the Detective, and The Girl Raffles, as well as appearances in The Lady Refuses, Paid Companions, and The House of Fear. In 1909, she married Charles E. Blaney, a playwright who had written a number of the Broadway productions in which she performed.

That same year, Spooner entered the film industry through Edison Studios' adaptation of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, taking on the dual roles of the prince, Edward, and the pauper, Tom Canty. A reviewer for Moving Picture World praised her ability to distinguish between the two characters. In 1914, she expanded her work behind the camera by writing, directing, and starring in the silent film Nell of the Circus.

Also in December 1914, Spooner was arrested at a Bronx theater she managed on charges of indecency stemming from her production of The House of Bondage, a play dealing with sex trafficking. Released into her lawyer's custody, she revised the play twice to address the objectionable content, though the production received negative reviews and closed after eight performances. Spooner appeared in additional films in the early 1920s before returning to Broadway in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Her final known acting credit was a 1950 appearance on the television program The Lone Ranger. She died on May 13, 1953, in Sherman Oaks, California.