Fannie Ward

Fannie Ward (born Fannie Buchanan; February 22, 1872 – January 27, 1952), also credited as Fanny Ward, was an American actress of stage and screen. Known for performing in both comedic and dramatic roles, she was cast in The Cheat, a sexually charged 1915 silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Reportedly, Ward's ageless appearance helped her to achieve and maintain her celebrity. In its obituary for her, The New York Times describes her as "an actress who never quite reached the top in her profession ... [and who] tirelessly devoted herself to appearing perpetually youthful, an act that made her famous".

Early life and stage career

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Ward was the only daughter of Eliza and John Buchanan, who was a dry goods merchant. She had one sibling, a brother, Benton.

In 1890, "against the wishes of her parents", Ward made her stage debut as Cupid in Pippino with vaudevillian star Eddie Foy. In April 1907, she returned to the Broadway stage to perform in A Marriage of Reason at the Wallack's Theatre. She was then cast two years later in another Broadway production, The New Lady Bantock; and after its run at Wallack's, she and other cast members took the play on tour to various cities during the latter half of 1909. Yet another popular Broadway play in which she performed was the comedy Madam President, which was presented at the Garrick Theatre from September 1913 to January 1914.

Film

In 1915, around the time Ward's stage career was waning, American movie producer and director Cecil B. DeMille convinced her to perform in The Cheat, a silent film melodrama co-starring Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa. The film proved to be a sensation due to its plot mingling of racial and sexual themes. In it Ward portrays a society woman who embezzles money and turns to an Asian ivory dealer (Hayakawa) for help, with brutal consequences. The movie launched the careers of DeMille and Hayakawa, who soon became Hollywood's first Asian star.

In addition to starring in The Hardest Way in 1921, Ward also appears in several shorts released in the 1920s: the Phonofilm short Father Time (1924) in which she sings; another Phonofilm production, The Perennial Flapper (1924); and in the Vitaphone short The Miracle Woman (1929).

In 1926, trading on her ever-youthful public image, Ward opened a Paris beauty shop, "The Fountain of Youth".

Personal life and death

Fannie Ward was married twice. Her first husband was Joseph Lewis, a British money lender and diamond dealer. They married in 1898. In 1909, in an interview with newspaper reporter Marguerite Martyn, Ward stated, "My husband hates my work", and then she questioned why women are treated differently than men professionally:

On January 14, 1913, less than four years after the noted interview, Ward and Lewis divorced. The following year she married her second husband, John Wooster Dean (born John H. Donovan, 1874–1950), an actor who had frequently co-starred with her on stage and in films.

Ward's only child, Dorothé Mabel Lewis (1900–1938), was the result of an affair with the Viscount Castlereagh, who in 1915 became The Most Hon. The 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878–1949), an Anglo-Irish aristocrat from Ulster. She married firstly, in 1917, RAF Captain Isaac Henry Woolf ("Jack") Barnato (1894–1918), son of the diamond and gold mining entrepreneur Barney Barnato and secondly to Terence Conyngham Plunket, 6th Baron Plunket, and had three sons. She and her husband were killed in a plane crash due to heavy fog.

On January 21, 1952, at age 79, Ward suffered a stroke in her Park Avenue apartment and was found unconscious by a neighbor. She remained in a coma until her death six days later at Lenox Hill Hospital. The newspaper also reported that she was survived by "three English grandsons": Lord Patrick Plunket, the Hon. Shaun Plunket, and the Hon. Robin Plunket.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1915 The Marriage of Kitty Katherine "Kitty" Silverton Lost film The Cheat Edith Hardy 1916 Tennessee's Pardner Tennessee For the Defense Fidele Roget A Gutter Magdalene Maida Carrington Lost film Each Pearl a Tear Diane Winston, aka Each Hour a Pearl USA: alternative title: Every Pearl a Tear Witchcraft Suzette Lost film The Years of the Locust Lorraine Roth 1917 Betty to the Rescue Lost film The Winning of Sally Temple Sally Temple A School for Husbands Lady Betty Manners Lost film Unconquered Mrs. Jackson Lost film Her Strange Wedding Coralie Grayson Lost film The Crystal Gazer Rose Jorgensen/Rose Keith/Norma Dugan Lost film On the Level Merlin Warner, aka Mexicali May Lost film 1918 Innocent Innocent Lost film The Yellow Ticket Anna Mirrel Lost film A Japanese Nightingale Yuki The Narrow Path Marion Clark Lost film 1919 The Only Way Lost film Common Clay Ellen Neal Lost film The Cry of the Weak Mary Dexter Lost film The Profiteers Beverly Randall Lost film Our Better Selves Loyette Merval Lost film 1920 Le Secret du Lone Star La Rafale 1924 Father Time Short film The Perennial Flapper The Perennial flapper" Short film 1929 The Miracle Woman Short film

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