Violet Kemble-Cooper

Violet Kemble-Cooper (12 December 1886 – 17 August 1961) was an English-American actress whose career spanned stage and screen across both Britain and the United States. Born in London, she came from a distinguished theatrical lineage, the Kemble family, which shaped her path toward the stage from an early age. Her father, Frank Kemble-Cooper, was an actor, as were her siblings Lillian, Greta, and Anthony. Her uncle, H. Cooper Cliffe, was also a thespian.

Kemble-Cooper made her first stage appearance in 1905 in England, performing in a production of Charley's Aunt. By 1912 she had relocated to America, where she worked in touring productions and stock plays alongside performers including Blanche Bates and Laurette Taylor. Her Broadway career extended from 1912 to 1934, during which she appeared in a number of productions. In 1921 she performed with John and Ethel Barrymore in Claire de Lune. Her Broadway credits also included The Command to Love, Lysistrata, He, and Mackerel Skies, among others.

Having spent her formative professional years in the theatre, Kemble-Cooper did not appear in silent films. Her screen career began with talking pictures, starting with the 1933 Constance Bennett film Our Betters. She went on to portray the villainous Miss Murdstone in the 1935 Dickens adaptation David Copperfield and played Boris Karloff's mother in the 1936 horror film The Invisible Ray. Her final film role was Lady Capulet in MGM's Romeo and Juliet, also released in 1936.

Kemble-Cooper died in California on 17 August 1961 at the age of 74, following a stroke and complications from Parkinson's disease.