Maude Fulton
Maude Fulton | |
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Fulton in 1919 | |
Born |
Maude Fulton May 14, 1881 El Dorado, Kansas |
Died | November 9, 1950 69) | (aged
Occupation | Actress, Playwright, Screenwriter |
Years active | 1904–1950 |
Spouse(s) | Robert Ober (dissolved) |
Maude Fulton (May 14, 1881 – November 9, 1950) was a Broadway stage actress, playwright, composer, dancer, concert pianist, stage director, theater manager, and later a Hollywood screenwriter and actress.[1]
Fulton was the daughter of newspaperman Titus Parker Fulton and Lulu Belle Couchman.[2] She grew up in Eldorado, Kansas and Lexington, Missouri, and worked as a stenographer, telegraph operator, and short story writer before becoming an actress. She first appeared on the stage in amateur productions in Aberdeen, South Dakota in 1904.[3]
On the opening night of Fulton's Broadway debut, in the cast of Mam'zelle Champagne (1906), Harry K. Thaw murdered architect Stanford White over the affections of Evelyn Nesbit.[4] In all Fulton acted or danced in seven Broadway shows. She also appeared in Vaudeville shows with William Rock,[3] whom she met when he choreographed her on Broadway in The Orchid (1907) and appeared with her in Funabashi (1908) and The Candy Shop (1909).[5]
Fulton's greatest personal success was the 1917 play The Brat, which ran for 136 performances. Written by Fulton, it was produced by Oliver Morosco, starred Fulton and John Findlay, and featured Lewis Stone and Edmund Lowe.[3][6] The Brat was made into a 1919 silent picture starring Alla Nazimova, a John Ford talkie in 1931, and again as The Girl From Avenue A in 1940, with Jane Withers, Elyse Knox, and Laura Hope Crews. She wrote another play, The Humming Bird, which opened on Broadway in 1923. It starred Fulton and Hilda Spong, and was directed by and featured her then-husband Robert Ober.[7][8] During the silent era, Fulton wrote the intertitles for many pictures such as Lady Windermere's Fan (1925) with Ronald Colman and Don Juan (1926) with John Barrymore. She continued writing for films in Hollywood through the 1930s, with writing credits on a total of 21 pictures and acting credits on five.[9]
References
- ↑ "Maude Fulton, 69, Stage Star, Dead: Noted Actress Here for Many Years Was Author of 'Brat' and 'The Humming Bird'," New York Times, Nov. 11, 1950, p. 1.
- ↑ Who Was Who in the Theatre 1912-1976 compiled from John Parker's annual editions; published by Gale Research 1976
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Maude Fulton's Story," New York Times, Mar. 25, 1917, p. X5.
- ↑ Mam'zelle Champagne at the IBDb.com database
- ↑ http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=67570 "Maude Fulton", and http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=58129 "William Rock"
- ↑ http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=8310 The Brat
- ↑ http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=9188 The Humming Bird.
- ↑ Fulton and Ober were married from 1920 to 1926, and had no children. "Maude Fulton Divorces Ober," New York Times, Aug. 18, 1926, p. 15. Fulton's 1950 NYT obituary erred in saying the marriage ended in 1920.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0298494/ "Maude Fulton"
External links
- Maude Fulton photo gallery, Univ. of Washington, sayre collection
- Maude Fulton portrait gallery at NY Public Library, Billy Rose Collection
- Maude Fulton at the findagrave.com website
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