born Feb. 16, 1893, Berlin, Ger.
died June 9, 1974, Martha's Vineyard, Mass., U.S.
U.S. actress.
Born to American parents in Germany, she toured with a stock company before winning acclaim in Little Women in London (1919). She made her Broadway debut in 1921 and became a star in A Bill of Divorcement that year. She managed her own productions after 1931 and toured widely; most of her plays were directed by her husband, Guthrie McClintic (1893–1961). She starred in plays such as Candida (1924), The Letter (1925), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1931, 1945)
in which she played the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, her best-remembered role
and Dear Liar (1960). She was often called the first lady of the American theatre.