Margaret Mayo, born Lillian Elizabeth Slatten, was an American

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

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 Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

; and at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. In her teen years, she traveled to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to pursue an acting career. She won a small part in a play named ''Thoroughbred'' at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ...

. She met her future husband, fellow actor

Edgar Selwyn Edgar Selwyn (October 20, 1875 – February 13, 1944) was an American actor, playwright, director and producer on Broadway. A prominent figure in American theatre and film in the first half of the 20th century, he founded a theatrical pr ...

, in 1896. The same year, she began her writing career. 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. Her earliest successes were adaptations of novels: '' The Marriage of William Ashe'' (1905) and ''The Jungle'' (1907). However, Mayo is best remembered as the author of more original plays such as ''Polly of the Circus'' (1907), '' Baby Mine'' (1910), '' Twin Beds'' (1914), and ''Seeing Things'' (1920), written with Aubrey Kennedy. Her work utilized parody and satire to talk about social issues. 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. In 1919, Mayo and Selwyn got divorced. Afterward, Mayo changed her name to Elizabeth Mayo and moved to New York to live with her mother. In 1926, she signed the Agreement of American Dramatists, a document that led to the foundation of the Dramatists Guild. She also began selling real estate. As she got older, she began to write about the spiritual world. Mayo was instrumental in making housing arrangements for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n spiritual teacher

Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spirituality, spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following o ...

at Harmon, near

, during his first visit to America in 1931. She owned and provided the stone house retreat where he stayed on this trip.

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 Mount Kisco is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous municipality, coterminous with the ...

References

External links

* * * *
Margaret Mayo
at the Women Film Pioneers Project
Margaret Mayo papers, 1882–1970 (bulk 1901–1950)
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

* two photos of Margaret Mayo,
photo #1
.
photo #2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayo, Margaret 1882 births 1951 deaths American stage actresses 19th-century American actresses American women screenwriters 20th-century American actresses American women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers People from White County, Illinois Actresses from Illinois Women film pioneers Screenwriters from Illinois 20th-century American screenwriters Followers of Meher Baba