Kenneth MacKenna

Kenneth MacKenna was an American actor and director

Kenneth MacKenna (August 19, 1899 - January 15, 1962) was stage name of Leo Mielziner, Jr. Hewas born in Canterbury, New Hampshire.

Family

Parents were portrait artist Leo Mielziner, Sr.(December 7, 1868 - August 11, 1935),the son of a rabbi, and Ella Lane McKenna Friend (March 18, 1873 – February 2, 1968). They were married October 20, 1896 in Boston, Massachusetts. Leo, Sr. was born in New York City and died in Truro, Massachsetts, Ella was born in Manchester, New Hampshire of Anglo-Irish descent and was a Catholic, she died in NYC. Her mother’s maiden name was Margaret A. McKenna & Ella was also named McKenna and Leo, Jr. took MacKenna as his stage surname, changing spelling slightly. His younger brother was theatrical production designer Joseph Mielziner. He married actress Kay Francis on January 17, 1931. They divorced in February 1933. He married actress Mary Philips in August 1938 and they remained married until his death from cancer. They had appeared in the Broadway play ‘’Nerves’’ in September 1924 with Mary’s later husband Humphrey Bogart. He had also dated Mary Pickford and Katharine Hepburn.

Biography

Before Leo, Jr. was 10 years old his family had moved to NYC. He acted in and directed plays while in his teens. He served in the military. After returning to NYC he signed a three year acting contract with producer William A. Brady. He appeared in seven Broadway shows by 1923 and toured thecountry in two of those. After sound films became the rage he signed a contract with Fox Films in 1929 and moved to California. Starting in 1931 he also directed a few films. He resumed his
Broadway theatre career in the mid 1930s. Soon MGM hired him as a story editor in New York and later back in Hollywood he was made department head. He returned to acting in the late 1950s both on stage and in film.

Broadway stage

*1920 "Opportunity" as Jimmy Dow
*1920 "Immodest Violet" as Arthur Bodkin
*1922 "The Nest" as Max Hamelin
*1922 "The Endless Chain" as Kenneth Reeves
*1922 "The World We Live In" as Commander-in-Chief of Yellow Ants and as Felix
*1923 "The Mad Honeymoon" as Wally Spencer
*1923 "The Crooked Square" as Robert Colby
*1923 "Windows" as Johnny March
*1923 "Dumb-bell" as Ted Stone
*1924 "We Moderns" as Richard
*1924 "Catskill Dutch" as Peetcha
*1924 "Nerves" as Jack Coates
*1924 "The Far Cry" as Dick Clayton
*1925 "The Sapphire Ring" as Dr. Erno Nemeth
*1925 "Oh, Mama" as Georges La Garde
*1926 "The Masque of Venice" as Jack Cazeneuve
*1926 "What Every Woman Knows" as John Shand
*1928 "The Big Pond" as Pierre Dimarande
*1928 "A Play without a Name" as John Russell
*1934 "By Your Leave" as David MacKenzie
*1934 "Wife Insurance" as Gregory Landon
*1934 "Merrily We Roll Along" as Richard Niles
*1935 "Othello" as Iago
*1935 "Macbeth" as Macduff
*1936 "Aged 26" as Charles Armitage Brown
*1937 "Penny Wise" as Gordon
*1959 "The Highest Tree" as Aaron Cornish

Produced & directed
*1936 "Co-respondent Unknown"

Film Appearances as Actor

*1925 "Miss Bluebeard" as Bob Hawley
*1925 "A Kiss in the Dark" as Johnny King
*1926 "The American Venus" as Horace Niles
*1927 "The Lunatic at Large" as William Carroll & Henry Carroll
*1929 "Pleasure Crazed" as Capt. Anthony Dean
*1929 "South Sea Rose" as Dr. Tom Winston
*1930 "Forever Yours" (film left unfinished)
*1930 "Men without Women" as Chief Torpedoman Burke
*1930 "Crazy That Way" as Jack Gardner
*1930 "The Three Sisters" as Count d'Amati
*1930 "Virtuous Sin" as Lt. Victor Sablin
*1932 "Those We Love" as Freddie Williston
*1961 "Judgment at Nuremberg" as Judge Kenneth Norris

Films as Director

*1931 "Always Goodbye" Fox Film Corp.
*1931 "The Spider" Fox Film Corp.
*1931 "Good Sport" Fox Film Corp.
*1932 "Careless Lady" Fox Film Corp.
*1933 "Walls of Gold" Fox Film Corp.
*1934 "Sleepers East" Fox Film Corp.

Television

References

* [http://www.nypl.org/research/manuscripts/the/themiel3.xml Mielziner Family Papers collection]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0533247/ Internet Movie Data Base - Kenneth McKenna]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=15504 Internet Broadway Data Base - Kenneth McKenna]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0290215/ Internet Movie Data Base -Kay Francis]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=80097 Internet Broadway Data Base - Kay Francis]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=68534 Internet Broadway Data Base - Mary Philips]
* [http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=mary+philips Internet Movie Data Base - Mary Philips]

External links