Mary MacLaren (born Mary Ida MacDonald, also credited Mary McLaren; January 19, 1900 – November 9, 1985) was an American film actress in both the silent and

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

eras."Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910 Population", digital copy of original handwritten enumeration page, Pittsburgh City, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, April 18, 1910, Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. She was the younger sister of actresses Miriam and

Katherine MacDonald Katherine Agnew MacDonald (December 14, 1891 – June 4, 1956) was an American stage and film actress, film producer, and model. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was the older sister of actresses Miriam MacDonald and Mary MacLaren. ...

and appeared in more than 170 films between 1916 and 1949.

Early life and stage work

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, MacLaren was the youngest of three daughters of Lillian Edith (née Agnew) and William Albert MacDonald."Twelfth Census of the United States: 1900", population schedule, digital copy of original handwritten enumeration page, Pittsburgh City, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

FamilySearch FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization and website offering genealogical records, education, and software. It is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is part of the Church's Family History Department (FHD). The Fami ...

(FS) database. Her two sisters, Miriam and Katherine MacDonald, also became actors, and another sibling, her brother Edward, died at birth in 1901, 14 months after MacLaren was born. Federal census records for 1900 document that MacLaren's father supported his family working as the proprietor of a hotel in Pittsburgh. By 1910, however, her parents had divorced, and Lillian worked as a dressmaker to support her daughters. Before moving with her mother, Miriam, and Katherine to New York City around 1913, MacLaren obtained her basic education in Greensburgh (now Greensboro), Pennsylvania. Once situated in New York, all three girls began working either in modeling, performing on stage in minor acting roles, or dancing in

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

s. MacLaren began her own stage career at the

Winter Garden A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime. History The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility constructed large conservatories that housed tropical and subtropical pla ...

in New York City with

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

in '' The Passing Show of 1914'' and ''Dancing Around''.

Films

MacLaren's screen career began in 1916 with ''Shoes''. She subsequently performed in productions for the

Universal Film Manufacturing Company Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American film production and distribution company headquartered at the Universal Studios complex in Universal City, ...

, including '' Idle Wives'' (1916), ''

The Plow Woman ''The Plow Woman'' is a 1917 American silent film, silent drama film directed by Charles Swickard and starring Mary MacLaren, Harry De More and Marie Hazelton.Connelly p.215 Cast * Mary MacLaren as Mary MacTavish * Harry De More as Andy MacTavis ...

'' (1917), '' The Model's Confession'' (1918), ''

The Petal on the Current ''The Petal on the Current'' is a lost 1919 American drama film directed by Tod Browning Tod Browning (born Charles Albert Browning Jr.; July 12, 1880 – October 6, 1962) was an American film director, film actor, screenwriter, vaudeville ...

'' (1919), '' The Unpainted Woman'' (1919), '' Bonnie Bonnie Lassie'' (1919), '' Rouge and Riches'' (1920), and many others. Among her more notable film roles is her performance as Queen

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

in the 1921

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

production of ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

''."Mary MacLaren, Silent Film Star", ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'', Nassau edition (Long Island, New York), 11 November 1985, p. 27.

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for l ...

Historical Newspapers, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Retrieved 29 June 2021. In studio directories and

trade publications A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this a ...

, the 5'3" MacLaren was described as having blue eyes and "masses of blond hair" and being an accomplished swimmer and tennis player. While the height of her screen career was in the silent era, she successfully transitioned into sound productions and continued to perform periodically in films throughout the 1930s and into the early 1940s.

Later years and death

MacLaren was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

and advocate of

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

. She had four cats and five dogs and was known to have slept on a rotted mattress. In 1979 in California, the long-retired actress resisted attempts by Los Angeles County officials to declare her mentally incompetent and to assume control of her finances due to repeated charges that she was living in her "dilapidated home" with too much clutter and too many pets. She appeared before the Superior Court commissioner who ruled that she was capable of managing her own affairs. MacLaren, at age 85, died of "respiratory problems" at West Hollywood Hospital in California in November 1985.

Selected filmography

* '' John Needham's Double'' (1916)Pepper, Peter
"The Strange Case of Mary MacLaren"
''The Moving Picture Weekly'' (New York, N.Y.), June 24, 1916, pp. 9, 34. Internet Archive. Retrieved November 12, 2020. * '' Where Are My Children?'' (1916) * ''

Shoes A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function, but ...

'' (1916) * ''

Saving the Family Name ''Saving the Family Name'' is a 1916 American drama film directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley and written by Lois Weber. The film stars Mary MacLaren, Gerard Alexander, Carl von Schiller, Jack Holt, Phillips Smalley, and Harry Depp. Th ...

'' (1916) * '' The Mysterious Mrs. M'' (1917) * '' Money Madness'' (1917) * ''

'' (1917) * '' The Model's Confession'' (1918) * ''

Bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

'' (1918) * '' The Vanity Pool'' (1918) * '' The Unpainted Woman'' (1919) * ''

'' (1919) * '' Bonnie Bonnie Lassie'' (1919) * '' The Pointing Finger'' (1919) * '' Rouge and Riches'' (1920) * '' The Forged Bride'' (1920) * '' The Road to Divorce'' (1920) * ''

'' (1921) * '' The Wild Goose'' (1921) * '' Across the Continent'' (1922) * '' The Face in the Fog'' (1922) * '' Under the Red Robe'' (1923) * '' On the Banks of the Wabash'' (1923) * '' The Uninvited Guest'' (1924) * '' The Phantom Broadcast'' (1933) * ''

Headline Shooter ''Headline Shooter'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama about the life of a newsreel photographer. Director Otto Brower intertwined the screenplay written by Agnes Christine Johnston, Allen Rivkin, and Arthur Kober, with actual newsreel footage ...

'' (1933) * '' Westward Ho'' (1935) * '' The New Frontier'' (1935) * '' Saddle Aces'' (1935) * '' Chatterbox'' (1936) * '' King of the Pecos'' (1936) * '' What Becomes of the Children?'' (1936) *'' Reckless Ranger'' (1937) * '' 52nd Street'' (1937) *'' A Lawman Is Born'' (1937) *''

The Fargo Kid ''The Fargo Kid'' is a 1940 American Western film directed by Edward Killy starring Tim Holt. It was the second in Holt's series of Westerns for RKO. The film was shot in Kanab Canyon, Cave Lakes, and Johnson Canyon. The script was based on a s ...

'' (1940) * '' Prairie Pioneers'' (1941)

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclaren, Mary 1900 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American silent film actresses Actresses from Pittsburgh Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)