Mary Duncan

Mary Duncan

Born: August 12, 1895
Died: May 9, 1993
in Luttrellville, Virginia, USA
From Wikipedia

Mary Duncan (August 13, 1895 – May 9, 1993) was an American actress.

Mary Duncan was born in Northumberland county, Virginia, the sixth of eight children born to Capt. William "Bill" Dungan and his wife, the former Ada Thaddeus Douglass. She attended Cornell University before settling on acting as a career.

She began her career as a child actress playing on the Broadway stage from 1910. In 1926 she played the daughter "Poppy" in the smash hit and controversial play The Shanghai Gesture. Florence Reed played her mother called Mother Goddam in which Reed kills Duncan in a startling end to the play. This play was turned into a very sanitized film in 1941 with Gene Tierney.

She met and married Stephen "Laddie" Sanford, who was an international polo player as well as director of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company, in 1933, after which she retired from films. They remained married until his death in 1977. She spent much of her remaining years working with several major charities.

Her last film appearance was with Katharine Hepburn in the 1933 film Morning Glory.

She kept herself active by playing golf twice a week and swimming every morning before breakfast, which helped her maintain her size 8 figure. As an actress, she had followed the ministrations of Sylvia of Hollywood to keep her shape.

Mary Duncan died in her sleep aged 97. She was survived by a niece and great-niece, and she was the last known person to have in her possession a copy of the lost Murnau film 4 Devils; Martin Koerber, curator of Deutsche Kinemathek, has speculated that her heirs may still have the valuable print somewhere.

Movies for Mary Duncan...

Morning Glory
Title: Morning Glory
Character: Rita Vernon
Released: August 18, 1933
Type: Movie
Wildly optimistic chatterbox Eva Lovelace is a would-be actress trying to crash the New York stage. She attracts the interest of a paternal actor, a philandering producer, and an earnest playwright. Is she destined for stardom, or will she fade like a morning glory after its brief blooming?
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The Phantom of Crestwood
Title: The Phantom of Crestwood
Character: Dorothy Mears
Released: October 14, 1932
Type: Movie
Five men have to prove their innocence when a blackmailer is murdered.
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Thirteen Women
Title: Thirteen Women
Character: June Raskob
Released: September 16, 1932
Type: Movie
Thirteen women who were schoolmates ask a swami to cast their horoscopes. The news they receive is not good for any of them.
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State's Attorney
Title: State's Attorney
Character: Nora Dean
Released: May 20, 1932
Type: Movie
Corrupt alcoholic attorney Tom Cardigan is one of the best lawyers around, commanding the courtroom like a stage and often winning his cases. Mobster Valentine Powers, who employs Cardigan and put him through school, asks him to represent a woman, June Perry, accused of prostitution. Cardigan agrees. But he never expected to fall for her, which is problematic since he's angling to become governor and will need the right kind of wife.
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The Age for Love
Title: The Age for Love
Character: Nina Donnet
Released: October 17, 1931
Type: Movie
A comedy-drama about marriage and divorce. A wife does not want children, her husband leaves her and marries a woman who does.
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Five and Ten
Title: Five and Ten
Character: Muriel Preston
Released: June 13, 1931
Type: Movie
John owns the largest chain of five and ten cent stores in the country. He moves his family to New York from Kansas City and their life, though grand, is falling apart due to his constant working. Wife and mother Jenny is lonely. Son Avery hates his job. Daughter Jennifer is snubbed by classmate Muriel and her friends. At a charity bazaar, Jennifer meets Berry and sparks are evident. However, he is engaged to Muriel and Muriel will make sure that she, and only she, marries Berry. After the marriage, Berry still thinks of Jennifer as Jennifer thinks of Berry. Avery laments about the state of his family since they were happy in Kansas City.
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Men Call It Love
Title: Men Call It Love
Character: Helen
Released: March 14, 1931
Type: Movie
Pre-code melodrama about high society marriage and fidelity.
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The Boudoir Diplomat
Title: The Boudoir Diplomat
Character: Mona
Released: December 5, 1930
Type: Movie
A ladies' man flirts with the wives of other governments' officials.
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Kismet
Title: Kismet
Character: Zeleekha
Released: October 30, 1930
Type: Movie
Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself. This film is believed lost.
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City Girl
Title: City Girl
Character: Kate
Released: January 12, 1930
Type: Movie
A waitress from Chicago falls in love with a man from rural Minnesota and marries him, with the intent of living a better life - but life on the farm has its own challenges.
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Romance of the Rio Grande
Title: Romance of the Rio Grande
Character: Carlotta
Released: November 17, 1929
Type: Movie
Fox's immediate follow-up to its successful early-talkie western In Old Arizona was 1929's Romance of the Rio Grande. The story focuses on the Alvarez family of Mexico, specifically fabulously wealthy Don Fernando. Intending to bequeath his vast fortune and estate to his long-estranged grandson Pancho, Don Fernando must contend with his ne'er-do-well nephew Juan.
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The River
Title: The River
Character: Rosalee
Released: October 6, 1929
Type: Movie
Passion carried an innocent boy and a worldly woman beyond the barriers of conscience.
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Thru Different Eyes
Title: Thru Different Eyes
Character: Viola
Released: April 13, 1929
Type: Movie
Harvey Manning is placed on trial for the murder of Jack Winfield, his closest friend, whose body was found in the Manning home. During the trial, the prosecuting and the defense attorneys put forward sharply different versions of the character of Manning and his wife, Viola, and of the events leading up to the murder. The jury returns a verdict of guilty, but a young girl then comes forward and confesses that she killed Winfield for having wronged her.
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4 Devils
Title: 4 Devils
Character: The Lady
Released: October 3, 1928
Type: Movie
The circus provides the backdrop for this melodrama that chronicles the lives of four children raised within the big top. Film historian and collector William K. Everson stated that the only surviving print was lost by actress Mary Duncan who had borrowed it from Fox Studios. In the December 1974 issue of "Films in Review," he explained that Mary Duncan, one of the film's stars, wanted it to show to a group of friends in Florida. The star was aware that it was a dangerous nitrate print and assumed that Fox had others. She threw the only copy in the ocean, a mistake characterized by Everson as "a monumental blunder to rank with Balaclava, Sarajevo, and the Fall of Babylon as one of history's blackest moments."
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Soft Living
Title: Soft Living
Character: Lorna Estabrook
Released: February 5, 1928
Type: Movie
Nancy Woods, secretary to a divorce lawyer, is tantalized by the idea of collecting alimony payments, she marries Stockney Webb with the intention of fleecing him after the honeymoon. Realizing that he has been fooled, Webb determines to teach Nancy, whom he truly loves, a lesson in humility and wifely behavior by taking her to his cabin in the wilderness.
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Very Confidential
Title: Very Confidential
Character: Priscilla Travers
Released: November 6, 1927
Type: Movie
A young lady impersonates a famous sportswoman while trying to win over a man.