Selena Royle

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Selena Royle (born November 6, 1904 in New York City , † April 23, 1983 in Guadalajara , Mexico ) was an American stage and film actress .

Life

Selena Royle was the daughter of the writer and screenwriter Edward Milton Royle (1862-1942). She began her stage career against her parents' opposition and made her debut in a play written by her father, Launcelot and Elaine . She appeared in prominent roles a. a. in the plays Peery Gynt (1923), She Stoops to Conquer (1924), Paradise (1927) and Napoleon (1928). During the Great Depression of 1929, she and Elizabeth Beatty ran an Actors Free Dinner Club in the New York City theater district , where unemployed actors received free food sponsored by colleagues who were under contract and had an income.

When the Hollywood film industry was desperate for talented actors with good speaking voices after the introduction of talkies, Paramount cast Royle in a supporting role in the comedy Missleading Lady (1932), which was unsuccessful at the box office, so Royle initially made no further attempt at film and returned to the theater. There she appeared u. a. in the pieces The Roof (1931), When Ladies Meet (1932), Days Without End (1934), Meet the Prince (1935) and The Prodigal Father (1937). At the same time, she began a career in radio, where she appeared on popular series such as Hilda Hope, MD and Kate Hopkins .

During the Second World War Royle created the State Door Canteen , one in the Broadway district located canteen , were fed free of charge by traveling American soldiers. This institution was so popular that Frank Borzage portrayed it in his feature film Stage Door Canteen (1943) - which was later nominated for two Academy Awards .

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer then took Royle under a multi-year contract, but mostly used them in supporting roles. Since she was already too old as a leading lady by Hollywood standards , she was mostly employed in the mother's field, where she soon settled on caring, selfless, self-sacrificing mother types. Her biggest appearances had Royle in the war film The Sullivans (1944), in the family drama Main Street After Dark (1945) and in the family film Lassie - Hero on Four Paws (1946).

In 1947 she left MGM and from then on worked for various production companies, still mostly in small roles. In William Wyler's remarkable Henry James film The Heiress (1949), she played e.g. B. the intelligent and compassionate but uninfluential aunt of a rich young woman ( Olivia de Havilland ), whose father considers all of her admirers to be dowry hunters. Royle only played slightly larger roles in the films The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947), He Ran All the Way (1951) and today's cult trash science fiction film Robot Monster (1953).

In the McCarthy era , Royle's film career ended abruptly when she was branded a sympathizer of communism but refused to testify before the Un-American Activities Committee . Instead, she brought a lawsuit against the American Legion veterans' organization , whose notorious magazine Red Channels had published her name. Although she won the case, her image was so damaged that she was subsequently only hired twice for film roles.

Selena Royle was married to the actor Earle Larrimore from 1932 in her first marriage , from whom she was divorced in 1942. In 1948 she married the actor Georges Renavent , with whom she left the USA at the end of her film career and moved to Mexico. There she began to run a salon in which painters, writers and composers met. She wrote and published several books and cookbooks on Mexico herself. In 1969 her husband died.

After a brief illness, Selena Royle died in Mexico in 1983 at the age of 78.

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Alfred E. Tworney, Arthur F. McClure: The Versatiles. A Study of Supporting Character Actors and Actresses in the American Motion Picture. 1930-1955. South Brunswick (New Jersey), New York, London 1969, ISBN 0-498-06792-0 .

Web links

Commons : Selena Royle  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Royle, Selena
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH November 6, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH April 23, 1983
Place of death Guadalajara , Mexico