Martha-Bryan Allen

Martha-Bryan Allen (1903–1985) was an American actress who was active on the Broadway stage for a brief period during the 1920s.

Martha-Bryan Allen
NYPL Digital Collection
Born	April 30, 1903(1903-04-30) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.
Died	July 29, 1985(1985-07-29) (aged 81) Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Occupation	Stage Actress

Early life

Martha-Bryan Allen was born on April 30, 1903,^[1][2] to Bryan H. and Rebecca D. Allen of Louisville, Kentucky. Her father was the treasurer of a local electric company that most likely participated in the merger that formed the Louisville Gas and Electric Company in 1913.^[3] Allen’s younger sister, Elizabeth D. Allen, born the day after Christmas, 1904,^[4] also pursued an acting career and eventually became the first wife of film star Robert Montgomery and the mother of actress Elizabeth Montgomery.^[5]

Stage career

Allen attended classes at the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts in New York City^[6] before her Broadway debut on January 9, 1922, playing Angelica in Leonid Andreyev’s He Who Gets Slapped.^[7] Two months later she played the envoy’s daughter in George Bernard Shaw’s Back to Methuselah, and following year, Essie, in another Shaw production, The Devil’s Disciple. She would go on to appear in Gypsy Jim, as Lucy Bake, O, Nightingale, as Appolonia Lee, and The Carolinian, as Myrtle Carey.^[8] In 1925 Allen was chosen to play the lead in Aloma of the South Seas, but was replaced by Vivienne Osbourne shortly before the play’s New York premier. By the year's end she had returned to the stage, playing the circus entertainer Dora in a successful run of René Fauchois’ The Monkey Talks.^[9]

Later life

After her marriage to Lewis Arthur Cushman Jr.in 1926,^[10] Allen apparently chose to retired from the stage. L. Arthur Cushman (1898–1963) was the founder of the American Bakeries Company that's beginnings were Cushman Bakeries, a company originally established by his father .^[11] Martha-Bryan Allen died on July 29, 1985, at her residence in Paterson, New Jersey. She was survived by her daughter and preceded in death by her husband and a son.^[12]

References

1. ^ Passenger Manifest SS Columbus- February 8, 1934
2. ^ Passenger Manifest SS Sameria August 30, 1926
3. ^ The encyclopedia of Louisville By John E. Kleber
4. ^ historicpaterson.org
5. ^ imdb.com
6. ^ New York Public Library
7. ^ The New York Times January 10, 1922
8. ^ IBDB.com
9. ^ New York Public Library
10. ^ 1930 US Census
11. ^ historicpaterson.org
12. ^ The New York Times July 30, 1985

Persondata
Name	Allen, Martha-Bryan
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1903
Place of birth	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.
Date of death	1985
Place of death	Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.A.