Mabel Frenyear
Mabel Frenyear (August 25, 1880 – died after 1921) was an actress and chorus girl on stage and in three silent films.
Mabel Frenyear | |
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Mabel Frenyear, from a 1909 publication. | |
Born | August 25, 1880 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, US |
Died | after 1921 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Actress |
Career
Frenyear appeared in three silent films, A Fool There Was (1915), a Theda Bara vehicle,[1] Tit for Tat (1915), a comedy,[2] and Social Quicksands (1918),[3] written by Katharine Kavanaugh. On her first trip to make films in Los Angeles in 1914, she made headlines for criticizing local women's fashion. "Southern California is a wonderland to me, but the women in Los Angeles; oh, they dress so terribly," she declared.[4]
On Broadway, Frenyear's roles included parts in The Girl in the Barracks (1899),[5] The Stronger Sex (1908-1909), The Only Law (1909),[6][7][8] Where There's a Will (1910), You Can Never Tell (1915), The Importance of Being Earnest (1921, as Miss Prism),[9] and Montmartre (1922).[10] She also appeared in productions of The Wizard of Oz,[11] Babes in Toyland, Father and the Boys (1910),[12] The 'Mind-the-Paint' Girl (1912),[13][14] Nothing But the Truth (1916),[15] and Kissing Time (1921).[16]
Frenyear took chorus roles to prepare for her role as a chorus girl in The Only Law.[17] A Minnesota reviewer in 1921 noted that Frenyear was "really pretty and plays her part with spirit."[18] Her stage work was not always so admired; "If Miss Frenyear would not shriek her lines unintelligibly," commented one reviewer in 1915, "the worst defect of the production would be removed."[19]
Personal life
Frenyear married twice. In 1900 she married Edward F. Dunn. She only lived with Dunn for eight weeks, when he sold all her jewelry and gambled the proceeds; they divorced in 1904.[11] By the end of 1904 she remarried, to Thomas R. Finucane; that marriage was almost immediately annulled, because both parties admitted they were "married while intoxicated".[14] In 1911 she was rumored to have married her co-star, Ralph Kellard, but both "laughed at the mere idea".[20]
References
- Klepper, Robert K. (2015-09-16). Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies. McFarland. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4766-0484-8.
- "Pastime Airdome". Abilene Daily Chronicle. 1915-07-02. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Amusements". Wairarapa Age. November 10, 1919. p. 3. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Papers Past.
- "Women of Los Angeles Are Out of Style; Criticism Made by Actress Mabel Frenyear". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1914-05-25. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- The Play: Published Weekly in the Interests of the Theatre and Amusement-going Public. 1900.
- White, NY (1909). "Miss Mabel Frenyear in "The Only Law"". The American Vaudeville Archive — Special Collections, University of Arizona Libraries. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
- Pollock, Channing (October 1909). "Unmuzzling the Theatrical Season". The Green Book Magazine. 2: 777–778.
- Nathan, George Jean (December 1909). "Players and the Plays". The Burr McIntosh Monthly. 21.
- Mantle, Burns; Chapman, John Arthur; Sherwood, Garrison P.; Kronenberger, Louis (1921). Burns Mantle Yearbook. Dodd, Mead. pp. 422.
- Kinder, Larry Sean (2016-01-29). Una Merkel: The Actress with Sassy Wit and Southern Charm. BearManor Media. p. 360.
- "Mabel Frenyear Dunn is Granted a Divorce". The Topeka Daily Capital. 1904-07-23. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Miss Frenyear Makes a Hit in 'Father and the Boys'". The Buffalo Times. 1910-11-18. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- "The New Plays". The Theatre Magazine. 16: 98. October 1912.
- "Admits Wine Made Wedding". Chicago Tribune. via Newspapers.com. January 4, 1909. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-05-04.CS1 maint: others (link)
- "Mable Frenyear in 'Truth'". Variety. 43: 1. June 2, 1916.
- "Kissing Time". Altoona Tribune. 1921-11-24. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Studied Chorus Girls". The Washington Post. 1909-10-03. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- Lenart, Elta (1921-10-17). "Amusements". Star Tribune. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Plays and Players". Brooklyn Life. 51: 16. April 17, 1915.
- "Are Not Married". Syracuse Herald. August 2, 1911. p. 3 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
External links
- Mabel Frenyear on IMDb
- Mabel Frenyear at the Internet Broadway Database
- Mabel Frenyear at Playbill
- Three photographs of Mabel Frenyear, in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection Photograph File at the New York Public Library Digital Collections.
- A Fool There Was (1915), silent film featuring Mabel Frenyear, on Internet Archive.