Mary Forbes

Mary Forbes, born Ethel Louise Young on 1 January 1883 in Hornsey, England, was a British-American stage and film actress whose career spanned several decades on both sides of the Atlantic. She died on 22 July 1974 in the United States, where she had spent much of her later life.

Forbes began her public career on the concert platform, giving recitals before transitioning to acting. Her stage debut came in 1908 at the Aldwych Theatre in London, and she accumulated several years of experience on the British stage before pursuing opportunities in America. In 1913, she made her American stage debut in Romance at Maxine Elliott's Theatre, the same year she took over management of the Ambassadors Theatre. Her Broadway career extended from 1913 to 1945 and included productions such as The Silver Box, Sport of Kings, Victoria Regina, Rosalinda, and The Deep Mrs. Sykes, among others.

Alongside her stage work, Forbes appeared in more than 130 films between 1919 and 1958, establishing herself as a prolific presence in Hollywood. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1943, with actress Lucile Webster Gleason, wife of actor James Gleason, serving as one of her character references.

Forbes was married three times. Her first marriage, to Ernest J. Taylor, took place in the first quarter of 1904 and produced three children. Two of them, Ralph and Dorothy Brenda, known as Brenda, pursued acting careers, while the middle child, Phyllis Mary Taylor, did not enter the profession. Her second marriage was to British actor Charles Quartermaine in 1925, a union that ended in divorce. In 1935 she married Wesley Wall, an American businessman, and the two remained together until her death.