Margaret Mayo

Margaret Mayo, born Lillian Elizabeth Slatten, was an American actress, playwright, and screenwriter.

Life and career She was raised on a farm near Brownsville, Illinois. Later, she was educated at the Girl’s College in Fox Lake, Wisconsin; the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Salem, Oregon; and at Stanford University. She and Selwyn married in 1901.

She worked as many things: adapter, actress, film company founding partner, playwright, and a writer. Until about 1917, Mayo averaged about a play per year.

She adapted several of her plays for the silent screen. Her play Polly of the Circus became the first film produced in 1917 by the Goldwyn Company, of which she was a founding member. After a year as head of the scenario department, she left to go overseas and entertain the troops.

Death Margaret Mayo died on February 25, 1951, in Ossining, New York. She is buried in St. Francis of Assisi Cemetery in Mount Kisco, New York.