- Edith Ellis (playwright)
Edith Ellis (1876 - 1960) was an
actress andplaywright in the early 20th century.Early life
Ellis was born in
Coldwater ,Branch County ,Michigan . The daughter of Edward C Ellis,playwright andactor , and Ruth McCarty Ellis, anactress , she was 'born on the stage'. Her first part was at age 6, and by 10 she was a star. Two plays were written for her before her 12th birthday.Several times she was head of her own
stock companies , travelling or stationary, and wrote, produced, directed, and acted in many plays. Her first writing attempt was out of necessity, when she and her brother, Edward, were stranded on the road by the unexpected disbanding of theirtheatrical company. The play was successful enough to pay their way home.Career
Edith married Frank A Baker, and they leased the Park Theatre and the
Criterion Theatre inBrooklyn , where she directed plays for many years. They later moved to theBerkely Lyceum inNew York where she directed her own play, "The Point of View". She also wrotescenarios forsilent films forSamuel Goldwin . Their daughter,Ellis Baker , became an actress.
Later, Edith married C. Becher Furness, aCanadian . [ [http://www.jstor.org/view/01922882/sp050132/05x3150d/1?frame=noframe&userID=46810d7f@twu.edu/01c0a8347100501be86c2&dpi=3&config=jstor] ]
=Plays by Edith Ellis [ [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=53k0AAAAMAAJ&dq=edith+ellis&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=k5DrnQDzjt&sig=_5xq55SbkvD8CmxVtaRV9vki8lc#PPP17,M1 Mary Jane's Pa: A Play in Three Acts] ] =*"A Batch of Blunders", 1897
*"Mrs. B. O'Shaughnessy (Wash Lady)", 1900
*"Because I Love You", 1903
*"The Point of View", 1904
*"Mary and John", 1905
*"The Wrong Man", 1905
*"Contrary Mary", 1905
*"Ben of Broken Bow", 1905
*"The Swallow", 1906
*"Mary Jane's Pa", 1906
*"My Man" (with F. Halsey), 1910
*"He Fell In Love With His Wife", 1910
*"Seven Sisters", 1912
*"Partners", 1912
*"The Love Wager", 1912
*"Verspers", 1912
*"Fields of Flax", 1912
*"The Man Higher Up, 1912"
*"The Amethyst Ring", 1913
*"Cupid's Ladder", 1915
*"Make Believe", 1915
*"Man with the Black Gloves", 1915,
*"The Devil's Garden", 1915
*"Making Dick Over", 1916
*"Mrs. Clancey's Car Ride", with Edward Ells, 1918
*"Whose Little Bride Are You", 1919
*"Bravo, Claudia", 1919
*"Mrs. Jimmie Thompson" (with Norman S. Rose), 1920
*"The White Villa", 1921
*"Betty's Last Bet", 1921
*"The Judsons Entertain", 1922
*"The Illustrious Tartarin", 1922
*"White Collars", 1924
*"The Moon and Sixpence", 1924
*"The Last Capter" (with Edward Ellis), 1930
*"The Lady of La Paz", 1926Later interests
In 1936, Edith began
transcribing works aboutlife after death . Thesetranscriptions supposedly came from aNew England farm boy who was killed by a British soldier in 1781. These works include:*"Incarnation: A Plea from the Masters", 1936
*"Open the Door!", 1935
*"We Knew These Men", 1943
*"Love in the Afterlife", 1956References
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