Maude Eburne

Maude Eburne, born Maud Eburne Riggs on November 10, 1875, in Bronte-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, was a Canadian character actress whose career spanned stage and screen. She died on October 15, 1960, in Hollywood, California, at the age of 84.

Eburne was the daughter of John and Mary Riggs. She pursued elocution studies in Toronto, though a stage career was not something her father would have sanctioned. Following his death in 1901, she entered the profession, later remarking that he would not have rested in peace had he known she was on the stage. She launched her theatrical work in stock theater in Buffalo, New York, with her early credits concentrated in Ontario and New York City.

Her Broadway debut came in 1914 in the farce A Pair of Sixes, in which she played the role of Coddles. She went on to appear on Broadway from 1913 to 1930, with credits including The Half Moon, Lady Butterfly, Three Cheers, Storm Center, Great Day, Puppy Love, and Many a Slip. Eburne expressed a deliberate preference for unconventional parts, stating that she sought roles with something queer in them, particularly those involving dialect, rather than pursuing ingénue or leading-lady work. Her stage output consisted largely of humorous domestic characters.

In 1930, Eburne made her first significant film appearance in The Bat Whispers, a sound remake directed by Roland West of his 1926 silent film The Bat. This also marked her first sound film role.

Around 1905, Eburne married Eugene J. Hall. The couple had a daughter, Marion Birdseye Hall, born in 1907. Eugene Hall died in 1932. Eburne continued working in film, accumulating more than 100 screen credits before retiring in 1951.