Frank Keenan

Frank Keenan, born James Francis Keenan on April 8, 1858, in Dubuque, Iowa, was an American stage and film actor, director, and manager whose career spanned from 1890 to 1928. The son of Irish Catholic parents, he received his education in Dubuque and at Boston College before establishing himself as a prominent figure in New York theater. He died on February 24, 1929, of pneumonia at his Hollywood mansion and is buried beside his first wife at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Keenan built his reputation in New York as a celebrated Shakespearean actor, with a particular specialization in King Lear, and became a recognized Broadway matinee idol whose name appeared at the top of showbills. His stage work included productions of Julius Caesar, Yosemite, and The Heights, as well as such vehicles as The Capitol, A Poor Relation, and The Girl of the Golden West. He took the title role in Macbeth opposite Nance O'Neil and appeared in The Warrens of Virginia in 1907. Among his later Broadway credits were Peter Weston in 1923 and Sherlock Holmes in 1928. His final stage appearance, at age 68, was as a Southern colonel in Black Velvet. At one point in his career he operated the Berkeley Lyceum in New York, which established him in the dual capacity of actor and director.

Keenan was among the earliest stage actors to pursue a Hollywood film career. He made his screen debut in The Coward in 1915, directed by Reginald Barker, and went on to appear in dozens of silent films over the following decade, including Lorna Doone in 1922 and Camille in 1926. Beyond acting, he directed several films, among them Dollar for Dollar and Smoldering Embers, both released in 1920, and Brothers Divided and The Silver Girl in 1919. He also produced Brothers Divided and received a writing credit on The World Aflame in 1919. His performing career extended into his late sixties, and he was an active participant in the Actors' Equity Association.

Keenan was married for many years to Katherine Agnes Long, an actress who frequently performed alongside him. The couple had two daughters, Frances and Hilda, both of whom worked as stage and film actresses. Katherine died in 1924, the same year Keenan married Margaret White, a music teacher from Los Angeles; that marriage ended in divorce in 1927. By October 1928, at age 70, he married Leah May, a 41-year-old actress from Atlanta, Georgia. Through his daughter Hilda, Keenan became the grandfather of actor Keenan Wynn and the great-grandfather of actor and writer Ned Wynn, born Edmond Keenan Wynn, and multiple Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn. Actress Jessica Keenan Wynn is his great-great-granddaughter.