Jean Adair

Jean Adair, born Violet McNaughton on June 13, 1873, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was a Canadian stage and film actress whose Broadway career spanned from 1910 to 1953. She performed professionally under the name Jennet Adair before settling on Jean Adair as her stage identity.

Adair began her performing life in vaudeville, where she worked as a singing comedienne. After receiving a scholarship to study at a dramatic school, she spent two years with stock theater companies before transitioning to larger productions. Among her early engagements was replacing Irene Dunne in a production of Mother. Her New York stage debut came in September 1922, when she appeared in It's a Boy at the Sam H. Harris Theatre. In 1931, she was part of the summer stock cast at the Elitch Theatre.

Her Broadway credits include Arsenic and Old Lace, Star-Spangled Family, The Next Half Hour, Detective Story, and The Crucible, among other productions. She originated the role of Aunt Martha in Arsenic and Old Lace, one of Cary Grant's eccentric aunts, and later reprised the character in the film adaptation. Her final stage performance came in the original Broadway production of The Crucible, in which she played Rebecca Nurse.

Although her career was rooted primarily in stage work, Adair made several film appearances later in life. She died on May 11, 1953, at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, at the age of 79. She was cremated at Ferncliff Crematory in Hartsdale, New York, and her ashes were collected by playwright Howard Lindsay.