Martha Hedman (August 12, 1883 – June 20, 1974) was a Swedish-American stage actress popular on the Broadway stage.

Biography

She was born to Johan Hedman and Ingrid Kempe in

Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...

, in

Jämtland County Jämtland County (, ) is a county or '' län'' in Sweden. It consists of the provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen, along with minor parts of Hälsingland and Ångermanland, plus two small strips of Lapland and Dalarna. It borders the countie ...

, Sweden. She studied for the stage under the tutelage of

Siri von Essen Sigrid "Siri" Sofia Matilda Elisabet von Essen (17 August 1850 – 21 April 1912) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish noblewoman and actress. Her acting career spanned about 15 years, during which time she appeared in a number of plays that her then ...

the wife of playwright and novelist,

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

. She first appeared on the stage in February 1905 in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland in a

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

fairy tale. For the next six years appeared in Sweden, Finland and Germany in plays by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...

and

Ludwig Fulda Ludwig Anton Salomon Fulda (July 7, 1862 – March 7, 1939) was a German playwright and poet, with a strong social commitment. He lived with Moritz Moszkowski's first wife Henriette, née Chaminade, younger sister of pianist and composer Cécile ...

. In 1912 theatrical producer

Charles Frohman Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Frohman produced over 700 shows, and among his biggest hits was '' Peter Pan'', both ...

brought Hedman to America and she shared the stage with John Drew. She appears in several of Charles Frohman's productions. In 1915, she appeared in ''The Trap'' produced by

Arthur Hammerstein Arthur Hammerstein (December 21, 1872 – October 12, 1955) was an American songwriter, dramatist, playwright and theater manager. Biography Born and educated to a American Jews, Jewish family in New York City, Hammerstein was the son of the th ...

. One of her more notable performance was in the 1915-1916 comedy ''The Boomerang'', produced by

David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of ...

. In 1921 she appeared in a big Shakespearean pageant on Broadway with several other top actresses of the period. She retired from the theater in 1922 but came back in 1942 for one play ''The First Crocus''. She appeared in one film ''

The Cub ''The Cub'' is an extant 1915 silent film drama produced by William A. Brady and directed by Maurice Tourneur. The film is based on a 1910 Broadway play, ''The Cub'' by Thompson Buchanan, also produced by Brady. This marks the only time stage a ...

'' directed by

Maurice Tourneur Maurice Félix Thomas (; 2 February 1876 – 4 August 1961), known as Maurice Tourneur (), was a French film director and screenwriter. Life Born Maurice Félix Thomas in the Épinettes district (17th arrondissement of Paris), his father was a w ...

in 1915. During the first year of her career as an actress, she had toured with German-born actor Emile von der Osten (1848–1905). She had a daughter with von der Osten, Ella Alfrida (born on August 30, 1904, in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden - died January 17, 2000

Georgetown, South Carolina Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, South Carolina, Georgetown County, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...

). Hedman was later married to Henry Arthur House with whom she co-wrote a play ''What's the Big Idea'' in 1926. Martha Hedman wrote a book ''Uncle, Aunt and Jezabel'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York: 1949). The dedication reads: "To Henry Arthur -the winter of our discontent was turned into glorious summer". She subsequently wrote ''Mathias and Mathilda'' (Chapman & Hall. 1951) written under the name, Martha Hedman House. Her sister was London actress Marguerite Leslie (1884 - 1958).''The Green Book Magazine'', Volume 15 page 321 c.1916; "London's Loveliest Leading Lady Goes Into "The Movies".." by Ada Patterson
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References

External links

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Martha Hedman photographs
New York Public Library, Billy Rose collection) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hedman, Martha 1883 births 1974 deaths People from Östersund 20th-century Swedish actresses Swedish stage actresses Swedish film actresses Swedish emigrants to the United States American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses American women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers