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Mabel Frenyear

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Mabel Frenyear
A young white woman with voluminous wavy hair in an updo, wearing a dress with short fringed sleeves.
Frenyear, from a 1909 publication
BornAugust 25, 1880 (1880-08-25)
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Diedunknown
Occupation(s)Actress, chorus girl
Spouses
Edward F. Dunn
​
​
(m. 1900; div. 1904)​
Thomas R. Finucane
​
​
(m. 1904; ann. 1904)​
  • Harry Young
    (m. 1940–?)

Mabel Frenyear was an American actress and chorus girl.

Early life and career

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Mabel Frenyear was born on August 25, 1880, the daughter of Edward L. Frenyear and Eva Tollman.[1][unreliable source?]

She began her career in Broadway theatre, appearing in plays such as The Girl in the Barracks (1899),[2] The Stronger Sex (1908–1909), The Only Law (1909),[3][4][5] Where There's a Will (1910), You Can Never Tell (1915), The Importance of Being Earnest (1921),[6] and Montmartre (1922).[7] She also appeared in productions of The Wizard of Oz,[8] Babes in Toyland, Father and the Boys (1910),[9] The 'Mind-the-Paint' Girl (1912),[10][11] Nothing But the Truth (1916),[12] and Kissing Time (1921).[13]

Frenyear took chorus roles to prepare for her role as a chorus girl in The Only Law.[14] A Minnesota reviewer in 1921 noted that Frenyear was "really pretty and plays her part with spirit."[15] Her stage work was not always so admired; "If Miss Frenyear would not shriek her lines unintelligibly," commented one reviewer in 1915, "the worst defect of the production would be removed."[16]

In addition to being a stage actress, Frenyear appeared in three silent films; A Fool There Was (1915), a Theda Bara vehicle,[17] Tit for Tat (1915), a comedy,[18] and Social Quicksands (1918),[19] written by Katharine Kavanaugh. On her first trip to make films in Los Angeles in 1914, she made headlines for criticizing local women's fashion. "Southern California is a wonderland to me, but the women in Los Angeles; oh, they dress so terribly," she declared.[20]

Personal life

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Frenyear married three times. On February 17, 1900, she married Edward F. Dunn.[21] She only lived with Dunn for eight weeks, when he sold all her jewelry and gambled the proceeds; they divorced in 1904.[8] On December 22, 1904, she married Thomas R. Finucane in Chicago, Illinois.[22][unreliable source?] Their marriage was almost immediately annulled because both parties admitted they were "married while intoxicated".[11] In 1911, she was rumored to have married her co-star, Ralph Kellard, but both "laughed at the mere idea".[23] And on April 27, 1940, she married her third husband, Harry Young, in Chicago. Her date of death is unknown.

References

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  1. ^ "Register". Ancestry.com. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  2. ^ The Play: Published Weekly in the Interests of the Theatre and Amusement-going Public. 1900.
  3. ^ White, NY (1909). "Miss Mabel Frenyear in "The Only Law"". The American Vaudeville Archive — Special Collections, University of Arizona Libraries. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  4. ^ Pollock, Channing (October 1909). "Unmuzzling the Theatrical Season". The Green Book Magazine. 2: 777–778. ISBN 9781476604848.
  5. ^ Nathan, George Jean (December 1909). "Players and the Plays". The Burr McIntosh Monthly. 21.
  6. ^ Mantle, Burns; Chapman, John Arthur; Sherwood, Garrison P.; Kronenberger, Louis (1921). Burns Mantle Yearbook. Dodd, Mead. pp. 422.
  7. ^ Kinder, Larry Sean (January 29, 2016). Una Merkel: The Actress with Sassy Wit and Southern Charm. BearManor Media. p. 360.
  8. ^ a b "Mabel Frenyear Dunn is Granted a Divorce". The Topeka Daily Capital. July 23, 1904. p. 2. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Miss Frenyear Makes a Hit in 'Father and the Boys'". The Buffalo Times. November 18, 1910. p. 3. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "The New Plays". The Theatre Magazine. 16: 98. October 1912.
  11. ^ a b "Admits Wine Made Wedding". Chicago Tribune. via Newspapers.com. January 4, 1909. p. 9. Retrieved May 4, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ^ "Mable Frenyear in 'Truth'". Variety. 43: 1. June 2, 1916.
  13. ^ "Kissing Time". Altoona Tribune. November 24, 1921. p. 10. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Studied Chorus Girls". The Washington Post. October 3, 1909. p. 2. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Lenart, Elta (October 17, 1921). "Amusements". Star Tribune. p. 6. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Plays and Players". Brooklyn Life. 51: 16. April 17, 1915.
  17. ^ Klepper, Robert K. (September 16, 2015). Silent Films, 1877–1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies. McFarland. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4766-0484-8.
  18. ^ "Pastime Airdome". Abilene Daily Chronicle. July 2, 1915. p. 1. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Amusements". Wairarapa Age. November 10, 1919. p. 3. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Papers Past.
  20. ^ "Women of Los Angeles Are Out of Style; Criticism Made by Actress Mabel Frenyear". Los Angeles Evening Express. May 25, 1914. p. 11. Retrieved May 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Ancestry – Sign Up". www.ancestry.com.
  22. ^ "Register". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  23. ^ "Are Not Married". Syracuse Herald. August 2, 1911. p. 3 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
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