Anne Cornwall

Anne Cornwall (born Anna Mary Reardon; January 17, 1897 – March 2, 1980) was an American dancer, singer, and actress whose career on stage and in motion pictures spanned over four decades, from her early work as a "chorus girl" in musical theatre in New York City in 1916 to her screen performances in starring roles, as supporting characters, and in bit parts from 1918 to 1960. Cornwall's credited and uncredited film appearances total no less than 72 productions, the great majority being released prior to 1930. A few examples of her work in silent dramas are The Firing Line, The Girl in the Rain (1920), and The Wrongdoers (1925). Cornwall was equally successful in comedies. Starring in a series of popular "Christie Comedies" in the mid-1920s, she was recognized in film-industry publications at the time as "One of the leading comediennes of two-reel comedies". That reputation led to her later being cast as Buster Keaton's girlfriend in the feature College (1927) and with Laurel and Hardy in their Hal Roach short Men O' War (1929).

Early life Anna Reardon was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1897, the only child of Eleanor (née Thomson) from Scotland and John Reardon, a native of Pennsylvania. Three years after Anna's birth, the United States census of 1900 documents that only her mother and she were living together as boarders in the home of Emma A. Webb on Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn. In that same federal census, Eleanor identifies herself as still married but that her husband's whereabouts are noted as "Unknown". There Eleanor worked as the Beckers' "servant", likely in exchange for reduced boarding costs.

Additional details about Anna's later childhood and teenage years growing up in Catskill can be gleaned from references to her in period film-industry publications and newspapers. With regard to her formal schooling, the 1921 edition of the Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual states only that she was educated in "Catskill, N.Y." That information is confirmed by a 1916 notice in Catskill's newspaper, The Examiner, which includes "Anna Cornwall" in the local high school's graduation roster of 28 students.

Stage experience Some insight into Cornwall's stage career prior to her transition to motion pictures is provided in comments about her found in trade magazines published between 1918 and 1921. According to those sources, Anna—later "Anne"—had "learned toe dancing" in Catskill before venturing to New York City at the age of 19 to try auditioning for musical theatre. Universal Pictures' company magazine The Moving Picture Weekly in its July 26, 1920 issue also identifies the specific Broadway theatre where she made her "first public appearance on the stage", in the small Princess Theatre on West 39th Street in Manhattan.

Film The earliest references to "Anne Cornwall" in film-industry publications date from January 1918. Some of those references can be found in the widely read Chicago-based film journal Motography and its New York counterpart Motion Picture News. The January 5 issue of Motography includes her name in an announcement that Select Pictures was developing a new film starring Alice Brady, one based on the 1917 Broadway play The Knife. Motion Picture News also mentions Cornwall among the production's supporting players, and in an update on January 12 reports that the cast, including the fledgling actress, was already filming The Knife'''s interior scenes at Select's 56th Street Studio in Manhattan.

The remainder of 1918 and 1919 brought more screen roles to Cornwall, two of which were in additional films starring Alice Brady, In the Hollow of Her Hand (1918) and The Indestructible Wife (1919). Anne also garnered more industry attention and public notice for her appearance in an uncredited but "prominent" role in the romantic fantasy film Prunella (1918), as the bride in The World To Live In (1919), and as Cecile in The Firing Line (1919). Another part she played at that time was a "fisherwoman" in Quest of the Big 'Un,

Following Cornwall's initial work in short films and features, she began receiving more substantial roles. The next decade proved to be the most active and successful period of her motion-picture career as she worked for a variety of studios. In addition to Select Pictures and Universal, she would be cast in productions by Artcraft Pictures, First National, Warner Bros., RKO, Fox, Christie Film Company, Educational Pictures, Paramount, United Artists, Gotham Pictures, Hal Roach Studios, Pathé, and by several small film companies represented by Associated Exhibitors. The Moving Picture World in its review of her performance wrote, "Anne Cornwall has an intelligent conception of the part she plays and is exceptionally well cast in the role of a young woman reared in a home of unsound principles who struck out for herself." But in the opinion of Motion Picture Classic, it was the actress's casting in two other films in 1920 that significantly elevated her status with studio executives and reviewers, as well her popularity with theatergoers. One was the previously mentioned film The Copperhead; the other was The Girl in the Rain in which Cornwall co-starred with Lloyd Bacon:quote|Almost everything Anne has ever done on the screen has been with her [Alice Brady]—until she played the ingenue role in "The Copperhead" with Lionel Barrymore. That role, of course, established her. The Universal people saw her work and decided to "import" her to their West Coast studios. And there she was, working in one of those downtrodden-factory-girl parts in a story called "The Girl in the Rain"…. She next played the title character in La La Lucille. That elaborate five-reeler, released in July 1920, had a storyline based on another Broadway musical comedy with the same title. Unfortunately, today no copies of either La La Lucille or The Girl in the Rain have been found. Both motion pictures are therefore classified as "lost" by the Library of Congress.

1921 to 1931

Cornwall took a year-long break from working in films after marrying Charles Maigne in February 1921. Her available filmographies confirm that hiatus from acting, showing no known 1921 releases in which she performed. Early in this pause in her career, perhaps to help maintain her profile in the industry, Cornwall posed for a full-body portrait by renowned Hungarian-born photographer Nickolas Muray. Muray's image depicts the "pretty motion picture favorite" tightly wrapped in sheer fabric. The photograph—one quite risqué for its time—is featured in the May 1921 issue of Shadowland, a high-end New York monthly dedicated to showcasing people working in theatre, film, and the fine arts.

The 1924 edition of Stars of the Photoplay states that Cornwall's absence from acting was longer than one year, noting then that "She has been away from the screen for several years, but is steadily winning her way back into the hearts of the fans." Contrary to that publication's statement, the actress definitely returned to work on movie sets by early 1922, not "several years" later. She played Betty Alden, a major supporting character in First National's romantic drama The Seventh Day, which premiered on February 6 that year.

"One of the leading comediennes of two-reel comedies" Between 1923 and 1931, Cornwall continued to secure starring roles and important secondary parts in assorted genres such as crime dramas, action-packed Westerns, and slapstick comedies. She was cast in at least 32 more "photoplays" during this period. Cornwall also starred in at least nine "Christie Comedy" shorts, establishing herself by the mid-1920s as "One of the leading comediennes of two-reel comedies".

A few other titles of Cornwall's Christie shorts are Bright Lights (1924), available for viewing on the streaming service YouTube; French Pastry (1925); and Chicken Feathers (1927), which is a release that film historian James Roots includes as an entry in his 2017 book 100 Essential Silent Film Comedies. Her considerable experience working for Christie led to Cornwall being cast in other productions with top talents in Hollywood comedies. She subsequently played Buster Keaton's girlfriend in the feature College (1927) and one of Laurel and Hardy's chance encounters in the short Men O' War (1929), the latter being the actress's first confirmed performance in a sound film. Cornwall during this time was also returning periodically to perform on stage. One example was in March 1929, when The Washington Times in D.C. reported in its Hollywood updates that "the petite ficker-ite" was performing as "the heroine" in a rendition of the 1923 play Broadway at the Vine Street Theatre in Los Angeles, along with fellow cast members Franklin Pangborn, James Crane, and Isabel Withers. Another example occurred the following year. The entertainment newspaper Variety announced in its January 29, 1930 issue that Cornwall had recently made her debut at the Dufwin Theatre in Oakland, California, starring in another revival of a 1923 Broadway production, Give and Take.

"57 Inches of Talent" "Of all the small-sized actresses in Hollywood", observed the fan magazine Photoplay in 1925, "Anne Cornwall is about the tiniest." Such comments about the screen performer's size are made frequently in period publications. The actress was indeed unusually short in height for an adult, a physical characteristic that proved to be an advantage for her over the years in obtaining roles playing little sisters, precocious teens, "'half pint'" heroines, and 95-pound (43 kg) "baby Venus de Milo's".

Cornwall's reported height varied from source to source over the years, ranging from one inch to three inches under five feet. The Moving Picture Weekly in its July 10, 1920 edition lists her as a mere 4 feet, 9 inches (145 cm) and labels the 23-year-old as "57 Inches of Talent". The Weekly in that same issue also recounts how Cornwall herself often joked about her height and even demonstrated how easily she could pass herself off as a child in public:

Cornwall was active too during the final decades of her life publicly promoting the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), a labor union originally founded in 1933 to represent collectively the interests of performers in the film industry, foremost in improving and standardizing their pay and working conditions. In the 1950s, she also donated an appreciable amount of her personal time helping to administer the Guild by serving on its board of directors alongside fellow actors such as William Holden, Louise Beavers, Van Heflin, Audrey Totter, Walter Pidgeon, Agnes Moorehead, and Tyrone Power.

Marriages Cornwall married twice, the first time to writer/director Charles Maigne in Babylon, New York, on February 12, 1921. Then, on November 28, 1929, just before "their divorce suit was about to be settled in court", 50-year-old Charles died at Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco from a final "breakdown" in his health after contracting pneumonia.

In September 1931, almost two years after Maigne's death, Anne married Ellis Wing Taylor Sr, a prominent architect in Los Angeles and a renowned yachtsman. By 1937 Anne and Ellis had separated, with "the former actress" filing "for separate maintenance" to help support herself and their only child, Peter Tracy Taylor. The next census, in 1950, lists Anne as head of household and that she had reverted to using "Cornwall" personally as well as professionally. It also shows her employment status still as "Acting" at "Movie Studio".

Death In February 1980, 83-year-old Cornwall was still residing with her son Peter in North Hollywood. Soon, though, her declining health due to arteriosclerosis required her admission to Beverly Manor Convalescent Hospital in Van Nuys, California, where she died of "circulatory failure" on March 2.

Partial filmographyThe Knife (1918) (uncredited)Prunella (1918) - (uncredited)In the Hollow of Her Hand (1918) - (uncredited)Quest of the Big 'Un (1918) - "Fisherwoman”The Indestructible Wife (1919) - Toots BrooksThe World to Live In (1919) - BrideThe Firing Line (1919) - Cecile CardrossThe Copperhead (1920) - MadelineThe Path She Chose (1920) - Virginia (starring)Everything but the Truth (1920) - Annabelle Elton The Girl in the Rain (1920) - Judith (co-starring)La La Lucille (1920) - Lucille SmithThe Seventh Day (1922) - Betty AldenHer Gilded Cage (1922) - Jacqueline OrnoffTo Have and to Hold (1922) - Lady Jane CarrOnly 38 (1923) - Mary HedleyDulcy (1923) - Angela ForbesThe Gold Diggers (1923) - Violet DayneArizona Express (1924) - Florence Brown40-Horse Hawkins (1924) - Mary DarlingThe Roughneck (1924) - ZelleBright Lights (1924) - "Ann" (co-starring with Jack Duffy)Introduce Me (1925) - Betty PerryThe Rainbow Trail (1925) - Fay LarkinThe Wrongdoers (1925) - Helen WarrenFrench Pastry (1925) - Celeste (co-starring)Keep Smiling (1925) - Rose RyanThe Splendid Crime (1925) - Beth Van DykeCool Off! (1926) – Anne (starring)Under Western Skies (1926) - Ella ParkhurstThe Flaming Frontier (1926) - Betty StanwoodRacing Blood (1926) - Muriel SterlinngHold Still (1926) - Photojournalist (starring)Eyes of the Totem (1927) - Betty HardyThe Heart of the Yukon (1927) - Anita Wayne (co-starring)Chicken Feathers (1927)- Anne Kale (co-starring with Jack Duffy)Scared Pink (1927) - The Girl (co-starring)College (1927) - Mary HaynesLoves Young Scream (1928) - The Girl Fighting Fannie (1928) - AnneHalf-Back Hannah (1928) - AnneMen O' War (1929, Short) - BrunetteThe Baby Bandit (1930) – (co-starred with Bobby Watson)The Widow from Chicago (1930) - Mazie (uncredited)True Confession (1937) - Alternate Juror (uncredited)You Can't Take It with You (1938) - Miss Jones - Blakely's Secretary (uncredited)Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) - Senate Reporter (uncredited)Triple Justice (1940) - Wedding Guest (uncredited)The Climax (1944) - Minor Role (uncredited)The Great John L (1945) - (uncredited)The Southerner (1945) - Townswoman (uncredited)Don't Gamble with Strangers (1946) - Servant (uncredited)Whistle Stop (1946) (uncredited)Below the Deadline (1946) - Minor Role (uncredited)They Won't Believe Me (1947) - Screaming Woman in Courtroom (uncredited)The Woman in White (1948) (uncredited)Isn't It Romantic? (1948) - Townswoman (uncredited)Knock on Any Door (1949) - Woman (uncredited)The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952) - Lucia (uncredited)Destry (1954) - Townswoman (uncredited)Untamed (1955) - Pioneer Woman (uncredited)The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956) - Mother (uncredited)The Buster Keaton Story (1957) - Mrs. Jennings (uncredited)The Wild and the Innocent (1959) - Bit Role (uncredited) Visit to a Small Planet'' (1960) - Bit Role (uncredited, final film role)