Frances Starr

Frances Grant Starr (June 6, 1881 – June 11, 1973) was an American actress who worked across stage, film, and television over a career spanning more than five decades. Born in Oneonta, New York, she was the daughter of Charles Edward Starr and Emma (née Grant) and had two half sisters. Her father died during her childhood. Starr was married three times: her unions with artist William Haskell Coffin and banker R. Golden Donaldson both ended in divorce, and she was later widowed by her third husband, attorney Emil C. Wetten. She died on June 11, 1973, at her home at the age of 92.

Starr began her professional stage work in 1901 with an Albany stock company whose members included Lionel Barrymore and Alison Skipworth. Her Broadway career, which extended from 1901 to 1953, opened with Nell Gwyn that same year. In 1906 she played Nell Colfax opposite Charles Richman in David Gray's Gallops at the Garrick Theatre, and later that year she signed with producer David Belasco, making her first appearance under his management in a supporting role alongside David Warfield in The Music Master. In November 1906, she appeared with Jane Cowl in The Rose of the Rancho. Her breakthrough came in 1909 when Belasco cast her in The Easiest Way, a production she reprised on Broadway in 1921. She continued building her stage reputation with The Case of Becky in 1912 and Shore Leave in 1922.

Her extensive list of Broadway credits also included Nell Gwyn (1901), Gallops (1906), The Rose of the Rancho (1906), The Easiest Way (1909), The Case of Becky (1912), The Secret (1913), The Secret (1914), Marie-Odile (1915), Little Lady in Blue (1916), Tiger! Tiger! (1918), One (1920), The Easiest Way (1921), Shore Leave (1922), Diplomacy (1928), Immoral Isabella? (1927), The Shelf (1926), The Lake (1933), Moor Born (1934), Lady Jane (1934), Field of Ermine (1935), The Good (1938), Claudia (1941), The Young and Fair (1948), The Long Days (1951), The Sacred Flame (1952), and The Ladies of the Corridor (1953).

Starr also worked in film, appearing in Tiger Rose (1923) in a minor role before transitioning to sound pictures. She played Nancy "Voorhees" Townsend in Five Star Final (1931), an early talkie centered on newspaper corruption, which was her second of only three sound films. Her third sound film was This Reckless Age (1932), in which she appeared alongside Buddy Rogers and Richard Bennett. On television, Starr took on roles in Studio One, Omnibus, Kraft Television Theatre, the Ford Theatre Hour, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Crime Photographer, Love Story, Center Stage, Mr. Citizen, and The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, among other programs.