Selena Royle

Selena Royle (November 6, 1904 – April 23, 1983) was an American actress who worked across stage, radio, television, and film, and later pursued a career as an author. Born in New York City, she was the daughter of playwright Edwin Milton Royle and actress Selena Fetter, and had an older sister, Josephine Fetter Royle.

Royle's introduction to the stage came at age seven, when she slipped away during one of her mother's performances, appeared before the audience in her mother's second-act costume, and took a bow. She later recalled of the incident, "And that is the first time I was ever on stage, and I liked it so well I stayed." Her first professional role came in 1921, when her father wrote the Broadway play Lancelot and Elaine specifically to give both her and her sister Josephine their stage debuts, with Royle playing Guinevere and Josephine playing Elaine. She went on to earn a role independently in the 1923 Theatre Guild production of Peer Gynt, which starred Joseph Schildkraut, and established herself as a respected Broadway actress over the following years.

Her Broadway career spanned from 1921 to 1937 and included appearances in Young Mr. Disraeli, Curtain Call, Among Those Sailing, On Stage, and Portrait of Gilbert, among other productions. During the same period, she made one film, Misleading Lady, while concentrating primarily on stage and radio work. She began her radio career in 1926 or 1927 and, according to a 1939 newspaper account, had performed almost continuously since. Her radio credits included the title role in Hilda Hope, M.D., Martha Jackson in Woman of Courage, Mrs. Allen in Against the Storm, Joan in The O'Neills, Mrs. Gardner in Betty and Bob, and a role in Kate Hopkins, Angel of Mercy. She also served as radio editor for the New York periodical Swank.

In the 1940s, Royle returned to film and built a substantial screen career, frequently cast in maternal roles. She played the bereaved mother in The Fighting Sullivans (1944), the mother of Jane Powell's character in the film adaptation of A Date with Judy (1948), and the title character's mother opposite Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc (1948). She also made several appearances in early television during this period.

Her career came to an abrupt halt in 1951 when she refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Her name had appeared in Red Channels, a publication of the American Legion, and she brought a lawsuit against the organization, which she won. Nevertheless, her acting career effectively ended, with her final film credit being Murder Is My Beat in 1955.

Following her acting career, Royle turned to writing, producing books including Guadalajara: as I Know It, Live It, Love It, which went through multiple editions, as well as several cookbooks and magazine articles.

In her personal life, Royle was first married in 1932 to actor Earle Larrimore, a cousin of actress Laura Hope Crews; the marriage ended in divorce in 1942. She married actor Georges Renavent in 1948, and remained with him until his death in 1969. Royle died in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, on April 23, 1983, at the age of 78.