Mattie Edwards

Mattie Edwards (1866–1944) was an American actress whose career spanned vaudeville, Broadway, silent film, and early sound-era productions across more than five decades. Born and raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Edwards came of age on the American frontier and was appointed Deputy Marshal of Fort Smith at the age of 16. In that capacity she participated in the criminal court proceedings of the time, including involvement in the arrest of the Dalton Gang. She later married Edward Settle, taking the personal name Martha Mattie Settle, and died in 1944 at the age of 78.

Edwards entered professional performance in 1887 with P. G. Lowery's minstrel group, marking the beginning of a theatrical career that would extend well into the following century. Her early stage work led to an association with Williams and Walker Co., for whom she served as leading chorus member. That collaboration included their 1903 production of In Dahomey, a musical in which Edwards also received a Broadway credit in 1904. She was additionally recognized for her role as Josephine in The Round Up, produced by Klaw and Erlanger during its 1911–1912 run. Her broader theatre credits include The Candy Kid (1908), The Virginian as Mrs. Henry, Checkers as Aunt Deb, As Ye Sow as Mrs. St. John, Getting Her Rights (1915) as Marguerite Smith, My Killarney Rose (1916) as Nora Donovan, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1918) as Mrs. Schultz, and Oh, Boy (1919) as Mrs. Carter, the latter produced through a special company organized by Comstock-Elliot for the 1919–1920 run. Later stage appearances included Ladies Night (1923), Why The Bachelor? (1924), Seduction (1925), The Devil Within (1927), This World and the Next (1929) as Rosie, and The Bird of Flame (1930).

Edwards's film career began during the silent era at Essanay Studios, where she appeared alongside Ben Turpin while he was still working from a loft at that company. She subsequently joined the Lubin Motion Picture Company from 1913 to 1915, serving as the female lead in productions featuring a fully Black cast, frequently paired with John "Junk" Edwards as the male lead. Her Lubin filmography includes Zeb, Zack and the Zulus (1913), Mandy's Chicken Dinner (1914) as Aunt Mandy, Sam and the Bully (1914), Swami Sam (1914), Coon Town Suffragettes (1914) as Mandy Jackson, The Tale of a Chicken (1914), The Rise of the Johnsons (1914), He Said He Could Act (1914), He Was Bad (1914), Rastus Knew It Wasn't (1914) as Nita Nonenti, Just A Note (1914), and several 1915 titles including The Haunted Attic, The Rakoon Hose Company, It Happened on Washday, The Undertaker's Daughter, Black Art, Father Said He'd Fix It, In Zululand as Queen Cocoa, A New Way To Win, and Under a Barrel (1916). Following the closure of the Lubin Company, Edwards joined the Griffin Sisters theatre tour in 1917 as leading contralto before moving to theatrical productions with the Ebony Film Company in 1918.

In 1920, Edwards appeared in two Oscar Micheaux films, Within Our Gates, in which she played Jasper Landry's wife, and The Brute. After completing those productions she relocated to Los Angeles, where she continued to take on film roles in subsequent decades, including Give Us the Night (1936) as Elena and Champagne Waltz (1937).