Mary Servoss
Born(1888-06-02)June 2, 1888
DiedNovember 20, 1968(1968-11-20) (aged 80)
OccupationActress
Years active19051949

Mary Servoss (June 2, 1888 November 20, 1968)[1] was an American stage and screen actress. Her main career was centered on the Broadway stage.

She was born to Carlos A. Servoss and Mary (née Baker) in Chicago. She made her stage debut in 1905 in a stock company playing a small part in Lorna Doone.[2] In 1922, she played Portia to David Warfield's Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, and she appeared in the 1929 play Street Scene, in the 1931 play Counsellor-at-Law starring Paul Muni, and as Queen Gertrude in Hamlet opposite both Raymond Massey (1931) and Leslie Howard (1936).

She was a veteran stage actress when she made her first film in 1940 and made over 20 films by the time of her last film in 1949.

When not in the theatre, her hobby was restoring old farmhouses.[3]

Mary Servoss died in Los Angeles on November 20, 1968.[4][5]

Her papers are housed in the Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA. The collection includes "correspondence, photographs, books, scrapbooks, and printed materials related to Servoss' life and career."[6]

Select stage credits

  • Bedford's Hope (1906)
  • The Master of the House (1912)
  • Consequences (1914)
  • Upstairs and Down (1916)
  • Behold the Bridegroom (1927)
  • Street Scene (1929)
  • Tortilla Flat (1938)
  • Swan Song (1946)
  • Medea (1949)

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1940The Lone Wolf Keeps a DateMrs. Colby
1942All Through the NightWomanuncredited
1942In This Our LifeCharlotte Fitzroy
1942The Postman Didn't RingHelen Allen
1943The Human ComedyMrs. Beaufrereuncredited
1943So Proudly We Hail!Capt. 'Ma' McGregor
1944Four Jills in a JeepNurse Lieutenantuncredited
1944Uncertain GloryDrover's Wifeuncredited
1944Summer StormMrs. Kalenin
1944Youth Runs WildCora Hauser
1944Mrs. ParkingtonMrs. Graham
1944Experiment PerilousMiss Wilson
1945Roughly SpeakingRose the Maiduncredited
1945ConflictLandladyuncredited
1945Mildred PierceNurseuncredited
1945Danger SignalMrs. Fenchurch
1946My ReputationMary
1946A Stolen LifePractical Nurseuncredited
1947High WallMartha Fergusonuncredited
1948An Act of MurderJulia
1949Beyond the ForestMrs. Wetchuncredited, final film role

References

  1. Great Actors and Actresses of the American Stage in Historic Photographs p.66 c.1983 by Stanley Appelbaum
  2. Who Was Who in the Theatre: 19121976 vol.2 D-H p.2149; originally published annually by John Parker ; this final edition by Gale Research Company
  3. Who Was Who...Parker, John; Gale Research
  4. Silent Film Necrology p.479 2nd Edit. c.2001 by Eugene M. Vazzana
  5. Who Was Who on Screen 2nd edit. p.418 c.1977 by Evelyn Mack Truitt
  6. "Finding Aid for the Mary Servoss Papers, 1910-1968". Online Archive of California. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
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