Mabel Bert

{{Infobox person | name = Mabel Bert | image = MABEL._BERT.jpg | birth_name = Mabel Scott | birth_date = 1862 | birth_place = Australia | death_date = September 7, 1945 | occupation = Actress | spouse = {{plainlist| * Edward G. Bert * [[Forrest Robinson]] }} | partner = [[McKee Rankin]] | children = [[Doris Rankin]] }}

'''Mabel Bert''' (née '''Scott''', 1862 – 1945) was an Australian-born American actress Mabel was an actress who was in stage productions including ''[[Straight Is the Way (1921 film)|Straight Is the Way]]'' (1921), ''[[The Wonderful Thing]]'' (1921) and ''[[Blackbirds (1920 film)|Blackbirds]]'' (1920).<ref name="Willard" />

==Early life== Bert was born in Australia in 1862.<ref name="Fort Worth Daily Gazette 1888" /><ref name="Pittsburgh Daily Post 1911">{{cite journal|title=The Career of Mabel Bert - 15 Jan 1911, Sun • Page 26|journal=Pittsburgh Daily Post|date=1911|page=26|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136206/pittsburgh_daily_post/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> Her father was A.C. Scott whose family was very wealthy.<ref name="Fort Worth Daily Gazette 1888" /> They immigrated to the United States in 1865, settling in [[San Francisco]], [[California]] to allow Mabel better schooling.<ref name="Fort Worth Daily Gazette 1888" /> She was educated in [[Mills College|Mills Seminary]] in Oakland, California.<ref name="Pittsburgh Daily Post 1911" /><ref name="Willard" />

==Career== [[File:Mabel Bert in Turn to the right, alone.jpg|thumb|right|Mabel Bert in Turn to the right]] She started as an actress by chance. She was behind the scenes with a friend during the performance of ''[[Oliver Twist]]'' and was asked at the last minute to replace a missing actress who had three lines.<ref name="Pittsburgh Daily Post 1911" />

At the beginning of her career, she played with various companies throughout California for two years and in 1886 joined a stock company in San Francisco for leading parts. For 14 months she took a new part every week, including Shakespeare's plays, old comedies, melodramas, society plays and burlesques. In 1887, she went east and joined one of [[Daniel Frohman|Frohman Brothers]]' companies in ''Held by the Enemy''. Since that time, Bert took leading parts in various plays and appeared in all of the important cities of the U.S. She played leads for the [[John A. Stevens]] Company at the old Grand Opera House, San Francisco.<ref name="Oakland Tribune 1934">{{cite journal|title=Information - 17 Oct 1934, Wed • Page 17|journal=Oakland Tribune|date=1934|page=17|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136084/oakland_tribune/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="Willard" /><ref> {{cite web|url=http://verplanckconsulting.com/War-Memorial-Opera-House.pdf|title=War Memorial Opera House|publisher=verplanck consulting|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413072409/http://verplanckconsulting.com/War-Memorial-Opera-House.pdf|archive-date=2016-04-13|url-status=bot: unknown|quote=...the Wade (later Grand) Opera House. Located on the north side of Mission Street, just west of Third Street, the Grand Opera House perished in 1906, along with most of the city's other opera houses, including the Tivoli Opera House and the Orpheum Theater.}} </ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wvsudy6RdGAC&q=Wade&pg=PA106|title=San Francisco's Lost Landmarks|first=James R.|last=Smith|date=4 January 2018|publisher=Quill Driver Books|isbn=9781884995446|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/9197/|title=PCAD - Wade's Opera House, San Francisco, CA|website=pcad.lib.washington.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18760229.2.51.4&e=-------en--20--1---tx%252509txIN--------1|title=Daily Alta California 29 February 1876 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NbOx9VMJGIC&q=Wade&pg=PA11|title=Music and Politics in San Francisco: From the 1906 Quake to the Second World War|first=Leta E.|last=Miller|date=4 January 2018|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520268913|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/c8mp517f/|title=[Photograph of Grand Opera House]|website=Calisphere|year=1881 }}</ref><ref>[[:File:LLOYD(1876) INTERIOR VIEW OF WADE'S OPERA HOUSE pg162.jpg]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb3870068d/?brand=oac4&layout=metadata|title=Grand Opera House|website=oac.cdlib.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb3d5nb3cg/?brand=oac4&layout=metadata|title=Grand Opera House, Mission St. [No. 2.]|website=oac.cdlib.org}}</ref><ref>''Wade's Opera House'', later ''Grand Opera House'', later ''Morosco's Grand Opera House''</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18760113.2.28|title=Daily Alta California 13 January 1876 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/20690/|title=PCAD - Grand Opera House, San Francisco, CA|website=pcad.lib.washington.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n2014-46561/|title=Morosco's Grand Opera House|website=www.worldcat.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/c89884z9/?layout=metadata&brand=oac4|title=[Photograph of drawing of the interior of the Grand Opera House]|website=oac.cdlib.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stpatricksf.org/the-changing-faces-of-st-patricks/|title=The Changing Faces of St Patricks|website=St. Patrick Church|access-date=4 January 2018|archive-date=5 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105123150/http://www.stpatricksf.org/the-changing-faces-of-st-patricks/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/California/San_Francisco/_Texts/SFH/1*.html|title=The San Francisco Horror • Chapter 1|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roguesgalleryonline.com/is-that-my-head-or-an-earthquake/|title=Is that my head or an Earthquake?|date=23 January 2013|publisher=|access-date=4 January 2018|archive-date=5 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105123150/http://www.roguesgalleryonline.com/is-that-my-head-or-an-earthquake/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref> {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/crockerlangleysa1905sanf |title=San Francisco City Directory |date=1905 |website= |series= |publisher=Crocker-Langley |location= |access-date= |quote=Grand Opera House, North Side of Mission between 3rd Street and 4th Street (page 799) }} </ref>

==Personal life== [[File:Doris Rankin.jpg|thumb|Doris Rankin]]

She left school when she was 17 years old, and on 25 May 1879, she married [[Edward G. Bert]],<ref name="Fort Worth Daily Gazette 1888" /> theatrical manager working for his brother, Fred Bert, a pioneer theater man of Oakland. She made her debut on the stage in 1880.<ref name="Willard">{{cite book|last1=Willard|first1=Frances Elizabeth, 1839-1898|last2=Livermore|first2=Mary Ashton Rice, 1820-1905|title=A woman of the century; fourteen hundred-seventy biographical sketches accompanied by portraits of leading American women in all walks of life|date=1893|publisher=Buffalo, N.Y., Moulton|page=[https://archive.org/details/womanofcenturyfo00will/page/80 80]|url=https://archive.org/details/womanofcenturyfo00will|accessdate=8 August 2017}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

In 1887, she began a relationship with Arthur McKee Rankin (known as [[McKee Rankin]]) and became pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl, [[Doris Rankin]], who later married [[Lionel Barrymore]], Bert's costar in ''Arizona''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Arizona - 18 Jun 1899, Sun • Page 34|journal=Chicago Tribune|date=1899|page=34|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137529/chicago_tribune/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="Beasley" /> In 1888 her husband filed for divorce on the ground of desertion.<ref name="Fort Worth Daily Gazette 1888">{{cite journal|title=Another Theatrical Divorce - 12 Dec 1888, Wed • Page 7|journal=Fort Worth Daily Gazette|date=1888|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136599/fort_worth_daily_gazette/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> In 1892, Rankin's wife filed for divorce, but Rankin, a devoted Catholic, did not marry Bert.<ref>{{cite journal|title="Drifting Apart" - 01 Feb 1892, Mon • Page 3|journal=Daily Leader|date=1892|page=3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136991/daily_leader/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> Rankin already had two daughters ([[Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew|Gladys]] and [[Phyllis Rankin|Phyllis]]) from his marriage to [[Kitty Blanchard]].{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}

On 28 July 1893, Bert married [[Forrest Robinson]],<ref name="Oakland Tribune 1934" /> who was an actor from Broadway and later starred in films of [[Mary Pickford]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Mabel Bert - 19 Jun 1927, Sun • Page 76|journal=Oakland Tribune|date=1927|page=76|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136000/oakland_tribune/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> They met when performing together in ''The Lost Paradise''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=25 Aug 1893, Fri • Page 3|journal=The Leavenworth Times|date=1893|page=3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137279/the_leavenworth_times/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref>

After becoming a widow in 1924, she lived with her daughter in Denver in the 1930s.<ref name="Oakland Tribune 1934" />

==Works== [[File:Stage actress Mabel Bert (SAYRE 6855).jpg|thumb|right|Mabel Bert, 1915, ''Daddy-Long-Legs'']] {{Div col|colwidth=20em}} * Stage Play 1925: ''Accused'' as Mme. De Verron * Movie 1921: ''[[The Wonderful Thing]]'' as Lady Sophia Alexandria Mannerby * Movie 1921: ''[[Straight Is the Way (1921 film)|Straight Is the Way]]'' as Aunt Mehitabel<ref>{{cite journal|title=Peoules - 08 May 1921, Sun • Page 52|journal=The Oregon Daily Journal|date=1921|page=52|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137355/the_oregon_daily_journal/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Movie 1920: ''[[Blackbirds (1920 film)|Blackbirds]]'' * Stage Play 1918: ''Turn to the Right''<ref>{{cite journal|title=20 Apr 1918, Sat • Page 8|journal=The Daily Times|date=1918|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136120/the_daily_times/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1915: ''[[Daddy-Long-Legs (play)|Daddy-Long-Legs]]''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1914: ''Young Wisdom'' as Mrs. Claffenden: "The girls' mother played splendidly by Mabel Bert."<ref>{{cite journal|title=Charming Comedy is "Young Wisdom" - 06 Jan 1914, Tue • Page 6|journal=The New York Times|date=1914|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137091/the_new_york_times/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1912: ''The Senator Keeps House'' as Mrs Ida Flower: "Miss Mabel Bert played the part of Mrs. Ida Flower with great skill, delicacy and charm."<ref>{{cite journal|title=Miss Mabel Bert Plays Part of the Widow and Remainder of the Company is Excellent - 20 Feb 1912, Tue • Page 7|journal=The Baltimore Sun|date=1912|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136255/the_baltimore_sun/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stege Play 1911: ''Sire'' as Mlle de Saint-Salbi: "One of the most sympathetic and charming character portrayals that has been seen on the Pittsburgh stage in a long time."<ref name="Pittsburgh Daily Post 1911" /> * Stage Play 1911: ''What the Doctor Ordered'' * Stage Play 1910: ''The Faith Healer'' * Stage Play 1909: ''Ragged Robin''<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Alvin - 10 Jan 1909, Sun • Page 33|journal=The Pittsburgh Press|date=1909|page=33|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137156/the_pittsburgh_press/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1906: ''The Crossing'' as Mrs. Temple: "The finished acting of Miss Mabel Bert saved it from exceeding tameness"<ref>{{cite journal|title="The Crossing" at Albaugh's - 09 Jan 1906, Tue • Page 7|journal=The Baltimore Sun|date=1906|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136590/the_baltimore_sun/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1906: ''The Light Eternal'' * Stage Play 1906: ''The Price of Money'' * Broadway 1899-1900-1901-1903-1905: ''Ben Hur'' as Mother of Hur<ref>{{cite journal|title=Music and the Drama - 03 Sep 1901, Tue • Page 5|journal=Chicago Tribune|date=1901|page=5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137122/chicago_tribune/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1899: ''Arizona'' as Estrella Bonham<ref>{{cite journal|title=Grand-Opera House - 18 Aug 1899, Fri • Page 12|journal=The Inter Ocean|date=1899|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137029/the_inter_ocean/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1898: ''The Master'' as Mrs. Thomas Faber: "Mabel Bert as the wife of the stern "Master" cannot well be too much praised for her earnest and natural performances."<ref>{{cite journal|title=25 Dec 1898, Sun • Page 15|journal=Democrat and Chronicle|date=1898|page=15|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136176/democrat_and_chronicle/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1896: ''The Liar'' as Elaine Rousseau<ref>{{cite journal|title="The Liar" at the Walnut - 04 Apr 1896, Sat • Page 4|journal=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=1896|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136907/the_philadelphia_inquirer/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1894: ''The Lost Paradise'': "Among the actors and actresses who made up the stock company and the Bijou last summer, none were more genuinely appreciated than young Forrest Robinson and Mabel Bert."<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Lost Paradise - 04 Feb 1894, Sun • Page 17|journal=Star Tribune|date=1894|page=17|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137254/star_tribune/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1892: ''Little Tippett''<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Walnut - 08 May 1892, Sun • Page 11|journal=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=1892|page=11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137427/the_philadelphia_inquirer/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1891: ''The Canuck'' as Angelique Bisquitte<ref>{{cite journal|title="The Canuck" - 26 Feb 1891, Thu • Page 2|journal=The Tuskaloosa Gazette|date=1891|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137510/the_tuskaloosa_gazette/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1890: ''The Fatal Card''<ref name="Pittsburgh Daily Post 1911" /> * Stage Play 1890: ''Shenandoah''<ref name="Pittsburgh Daily Post 1911" /> * Stage Play 1890: ''The Masqueraders''<ref name="Pittsburgh Daily Post 1911" /> * Stage Play 1889: ''Hearts-Ease'' as Lady Neville<ref>{{cite journal|title=Henry Miller in "Hearts-Ease" at the Tulane - 27 Feb 1899, Mon • Page 3|journal=The Times-Democrat|date=1899|page=3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136962/the_timesdemocrat/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1889: ''Undine''<ref name="Oakland Tribune 1934" /> * Stage Play 1889: ''Hazel Kirk''<ref name="Oakland Tribune 1934" /> * Stage Play 1889: ''Convict 1240''<ref name="Oakland Tribune 1934" /> * Stage Play 1889: ''The Silver King''<ref name="Oakland Tribune 1934" /> * Stage Play 1889: ''The Kantuck''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1888-1889: ''The Runaway Wife''<ref>{{cite journal|title=Aumsements - 22 Oct 1889, Tue • Page 1|journal=Oakland Tribune|date=1889|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14136847/oakland_tribune/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1888: ''The New Danites'' as Miss Dido<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1887: ''Allan Dare''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1887: ''Wife and Child'' as Lady Alice<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''49'' as Carrots<ref>{{cite journal|title=Grand Opera House - 04 Dec 1886, Sat • Page 2|journal=The Ottawa Journal|date=1886|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137050/the_ottawa_journal/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1886: ''The Last Days of Pompeii''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Under the Polar Star''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Falsely Accused, or, The Deadwood Stage'' as Pix<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''The Two Orphans'' as Louise<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''The Golden Giant'' as Ethel Wayne and later as Bessie Fairfax<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Everybody's Friend'' as Mrs Featherly<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''The Field of the Cloth of Gold''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Rob Roy''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Guy Mannering'' as Julia Mannering<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Erin O'Chorra'' as Norah Delaney<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Money'' as Clara Douglas<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Second Sight''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Hoodman Blind''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''Notre Dame'' as Esmeralda<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1886: ''The Danites'' as Widder and later as Billy Piper: "A young lady of great talent as an actress, and of extreme beauty"<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Great Attraction Coming - 29 Jun 1888, Fri • Page 3|journal=The New North-West|date=1888|page=3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14137458/the_new_northwest/|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> * Stage Play 1885: ''A Wall Street Bandit''<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1885: ''Macbeth'' as Lady Macduff and later as Lady Macbeth<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1885: ''Brought to Justice'' as Nell Forrest<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1882: ''Step by Step'' as Shop Girl<ref name="Beasley" /> * Stage Play 1882: ''A Prisoner for Life'' (debut)<ref name="Beasley">{{cite book|last1=Beasley|first1=David R.|title=McKee Rankin and the Heyday of the American Theater|date=2002|publisher=David Beasley|page=209|isbn=9780889203907|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N3PAhK66NxgC&pg=PA209|accessdate=2 October 2017}}</ref> {{div col end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IMDb name|0077797}} *[http://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm/search/collection/macauley/searchterm/mabel%20bert/order/nosort Mabel Bert] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114090132/http://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm/search/collection/macauley/searchterm/mabel%20bert/order/nosort |date=14 January 2021 }} portraits (University of Louisville, Macauley Theatre collection)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bert, Mabel}} [[Category:1862 births]] [[Category:American stage actresses]] [[Category:Australian stage actresses]] [[Category:American film actresses]] [[Category:Australian film actresses]] [[Category:American silent film actresses]] [[Category:20th-century American actresses]] [[Category:Australian silent film actresses]] [[Category:20th-century Australian actresses]] [[Category:Emigrants from colonial Australia to the United States]] [[Category:1945 deaths]] [[Category:Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century]]