{{short description|American stage and film actress (1894-1993)}} {{other people}}{{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Mary Duncan | image = Mary Duncan ca. 1930.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Duncan, {{circa|1930}} | birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|8|13}} | birth_place = Luttrellville, Virginia U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1993|5|9|1894|8|13}} | death_place = Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. | birth_name = | alma_mater = Cornell University<ref name="round">{{cite news|url=http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071042/1928-08-23/ed-1/seq-6/#index=0&rows=20&words=F+Murnau+W&sequence=0&proxtext=F.W.+Murnau&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=range&page=1|work=Heppner Gazette-Times|date=August 21, 1928|page=6|title=Movie Star Chosen for Round-Up Queen|location=Pendleton, Oregon}}</ref> | years_active = 1927–1933 | restingplace = | spouse = Stephen "Laddie" Sanford (1933–1977; his death)}}
'''Mary Duncan''' (August 13, 1894 – May 9, 1993) was an American stage and film actress. She is best known for her performances in F. W. Murnau's ''City Girl'' (1930) and ''Morning Glory'' (1933).
==Early years== Duncan was born in Luttrellville, Virginia, the sixth of eight children born to Capt. William S. Duncan and his wife.<ref name="slst">{{cite news |last1=Brundidge |first1=Harry T. |title=Mary Duncan, Green-Eyed Vampire of Films, Hollywood Mystery Woman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/204533175/?terms=%22Mary%2BDuncan%22%2Bactress |work=The St. Louis Star and Times |date=December 7, 1929 |location=Missouri, St. Louis |page=3|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 19, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> She attended Cornell University for two years (or one year)<ref name="slst" /> before settling on acting as a career.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Mary Duncan Will Remain |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22951587/mary_duncan/ |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=June 26, 1927 |location=California, Los Angeles |page=53|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 18, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> When she left Cornell, she studied acting under Yvette Guilbert.<ref name="slst" />
== Career == Duncan began her career as a child actress playing on the Broadway stage from 1910. Her Broadway credits include ''Human Nature'' (1925), ''All Wet'' (1925), ''New Toys'' (1924), ''The Egotist'' (1922), ''Face Value'' (1921), and ''Welcome to Our City'' (1919).<ref>{{cite web |title=Mary Duncan |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mary-duncan-38690 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |accessdate=19 August 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819194412/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mary-duncan-38690 |archivedate=19 August 2018}}</ref> In 1926 she played "Poppy" in the smash hit and controversial play ''The Shanghai Gesture'',<ref name=":0" /> in which Florence Reed played her mother (known as "Mother Goddam"). Reed's character kills her daughter in a startling end to the play. This play was turned into a very sanitized film in 1941 with Gene Tierney.
Duncan also starred in the 1930 film ''City Girl'' by director F. W. Murnau.<ref>French, Philip (May 21, 2011). [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/may/22/murnau-city-girl-philip-french-classic-dvd "City Girl"]. ''The Guardian'' (Retrieved June 20, 2022).</ref> After that, her career hit a lull. An article by Florabel Muir in the ''New York Daily News'' in 1931 began: "Mary Duncan was in Hollywood nearly all of last year looking for work with little or no luck. She even altered her appearance by having things done to her nose, but still the producers wouldn't give her a tumble."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Muir |first1=Florabel |title=Mary Duncan's Wanted After Loafing a Year |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22952567/daily_news/ |work=Daily News |date=June 17, 1931 |location=New York, New York City |page=36|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 19, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>
Duncan's last film appearance was in the 1933 film ''Morning Glory'', which starred Katharine Hepburn.
==Personal life== [[File:President of Hialeah Racetrack Eugene Mori, left, with actress Mrs. Stephen Sanford and Cmdr. Harold Crossman (cropped).jpg|thumb|Mary Duncan pictured with Eugene Mori and Cmdr. Harold Crossman at Hialeah Race Track, 1958]] On September 1, 1933, Duncan married Stephen "Laddie" Sanford,<ref>{{cite news |title=Actress Weds Sportsman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22966445/mary_duncan/ |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |agency=Associated Press |date=September 2, 1933 |location=Missouri, St. Louis |page=9|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = August 19, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> who was an international polo player as well as director of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company, after which she retired from films. They remained married until his death in 1977. She spent much of her remaining years working with several major charities, and earned a reputation as a socialite in Palm Beach, Florida.<ref name="la"/> She kept herself active by playing golf twice a week and swimming every morning before breakfast, which helped her maintain her size 8 figure. As an actress, she had followed the exercise tips of Sylvia of Hollywood to keep her shape.{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}
==Death== Duncan died in her sleep aged 98.<ref name="la">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-17-mn-36270-story.html|work=The Los Angeles Times|title=Mary Duncan; Movie Actress and Socialite|date=May 17, 1993|access-date=January 22, 2016}}</ref> She was survived by a niece and great-niece. Duncan was the last known person to have in her possession a copy of the lost Murnau film ''4 Devils''; Martin Koerber, curator of Deutsche Kinemathek, has speculated that her heirs may still have the valuable print somewhere.<ref name=DK>{{cite web |url=https://www.lost-films.eu/films/show/id/41 |title=Lost Films: 4 Devils |publisher=Deutsche Kinemathek |accessdate=March 12, 2013}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1927 || ''Very Confidential'' || Priscilla Travers || '''Lost''' film |- | rowspan=2 | 1928 || ''Soft Living'' || Lorna Estabrook || |- | ''4 Devils'' || The Lady || '''Lost''' film |- | rowspan=3 | 1929 || ''The River'' || Rosalee || '''Incomplete''' film |- | ''Thru Different Eyes'' || Viola || |- | ''Romance of the Rio Grande'' || Carlotta || |- | rowspan=3 | 1930 || ''City Girl'' || Kate || |- | ''Kismet'' || Zeleekha || '''Lost''' film |- | ''The Boudoir Diplomat'' || Mona || |- | rowspan=3 | 1931 || ''Men Call It Love'' || Helen Robinson || |- | ''Five and Ten'' || Muriel Preston || |- | ''The Age for Love'' || Nina Donnet || |- | rowspan=3 | 1932 || ''State's Attorney'' || Nora Dean || |- | ''Thirteen Women'' || June Raskob || |- | ''The Phantom of Crestwood'' || Dorothy Mears || |- | 1933 || ''Morning Glory'' || Rita Vernon || (final film role) |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} {{commons category|Mary Duncan}} *{{IMDb name|id=0242041|name=Mary Duncan}} *{{IBDB name}} *{{Find a Grave|41261131}} *[https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/5251/mary-duncan Mary Duncan] at Virtual History
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Mary}} Category:1894 births Category:1993 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American child actresses Category:American film actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:People from Northumberland County, Virginia Category:Actresses from Virginia Category:Cornell University alumni