May Davenport Seymour

May Davenport Seymour Eckert (1883–1967) was an American stage actress and arts patron whose family roots ran deep in the nineteenth-century theatrical world. Her father, William Gorman Seymour, worked as both an actor and stage manager, while her mother, May Marian Caroline Davenport, came from one of the era's most celebrated acting dynasties. Her maternal grandparents were E. L. Davenport and Fanny Vining Davenport, prominent figures on the mid-nineteenth-century stage. Among her mother's siblings were the renowned stage star Fanny Davenport and Hollywood actor Harry Davenport, making Seymour part of a family in which theatrical achievement spanned multiple generations.

Seymour began her stage career around 1901 and was performing on Broadway by 1903. Her Broadway credits included The Little Princess, The Lady of Lyons, The Triumph of Love, The Ruling Power, Brother Jacques, Beauty and the Barge, and The Marriage of William Ashe. In 1905 she appeared in a production of A Doll's House, presented by producer Charles Frohman and starring Ethel Barrymore. That same year she was part of another Frohman presentation, a double bill pairing Pantaloon with Alice Sit-by-the-Fire, a program notable for featuring all three Barrymore siblings — Ethel, Lionel, and Jack — across its two plays. Her Broadway appearances spanned the years 1903 to 1905.

In 1908 she married William Stanley Eckert. Among their children was actress Anne Seymour, who typically performed under that name professionally. After her children reached adulthood, Seymour and her daughter Anne worked together for nine years on the radio program Against the Storm.

Beyond performance, Seymour devoted considerable energy to preserving theatrical history. She became involved with the Museum of the City of New York, where she helped establish a theater collection of memorabilia and served as its curator. She died in New York on October 5, 1967.