Grace Perkins

Grace Margaret Perkins (August 20, 1900 – December 16, 1955) was an American actress, screenwriter, and novelist whose career spanned the 1920s through the 1950s. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in New York City and Westchester. Her father was publisher James Lamont Perkins, and her siblings included musician Ray Perkins and actress Bobbie Perkins. Perkins attended a Sacred Heart Catholic girls' school in Manhattan and spent one year at a boarding school before enrolling at Columbia University's School of Journalism, where her studies ended during her sophomore year following her father's death.

After leaving Columbia, Perkins studied stenography and took a position at a magazine. Her path toward acting began when Minnie Dupree, with whom she had collaborated on entertainment for soldiers, encouraged her to pursue the stage. She subsequently traveled to Toronto to work with a stock theater company and later performed in Rochester. She eventually left acting and transitioned to newspaper reporting. Her first assignment involved interviewing a woman whose husband had been murdered, an experience that redirected her toward writing book reviews and bedtime stories rather than hard news. Alongside her newspaper work, she wrote songs for children and contributed serials and short stories to magazines.

Perkins appeared on Broadway between 1923 and 1924. She portrayed Rosalie in The Lullaby in 1923 and Miss Larrier in Her Way Out in 1924. Her writing career extended to film and theater as well. She authored the magazine article that served as the basis for the 1932 film No More Orchids, and she co-wrote the 1942 play The Walking Gentleman with writer Fulton Oursler. Her screen credits include Personal Maid (1931), Night Nurse (1931), No More Orchids (1932), Torch Singer (1933), and Three on a Honeymoon (1934), among others. She also worked under the name Dora Macy, a name that additionally appeared as a character in fiction, including her own work.

In addition to her film and stage work, Perkins served as executive editor of the monthly magazine Guideposts in Carmel, New York. Her published works include the novel Personal Maid (1931) and titles such as Mike (1933), among other selected works. Perkins was the second wife of Fulton Oursler, with whom she had two children. Following Oursler's death, a legal dispute arose over his estate between Perkins and his elder two children from a prior relationship, who successfully sued for their share. Perkins died in New York City on December 16, 1955, at the age of 55.