# Merna Kennedy > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Merna_Kennedy > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Merna_Kennedy.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merna_Kennedy > Source revision: 1354344547 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use American English|date=May 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}} {{short description|American actress}} {{Infobox person | name = Merna Kennedy | image = Merna Kennedy publicity still (3x4 cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption = Kennedy in 1933 | birth_name = Maude Kahler | birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|09|07}} | birth_place = [Kankakee, Illinois](/source/Kankakee%2C_Illinois), U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|12|20|1908|09|07}} | death_place = [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) California, U.S. | resting_place = [Inglewood Park Cemetery](/source/Inglewood_Park_Cemetery), California | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1928–1934 | spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|[Busby Berkeley](/source/Busby_Berkeley)|1934|1935|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Forrest Brayton|1944}}}} }} '''Merna Kennedy''' (born '''Maude Kahler''';Birth Records from the Kankakee Historical Society. September 7, 1908 – December 20, 1944) was an American actress of the late [silent era](/source/Silent_film) and the transitional period into [talkies](/source/Sound_film). ==Career== She was born in [Kankakee](/source/Kankakee%2C_Illinois), one of two children to Maud (''née'' Reed) and John Kahler, a German-American butcher turned chiropractor. After her parents separated, her mother moved the family to California, where she married a grocer two years later, and changed their name to Kennedy. At the outbreak of World War I, their mother prepped seven-year-old Merna and brother Melvin (known as Merle) to tour as a dancing and singing sibling act on the [Orpheum](/source/Orpheum_Circuit) and [Pantages](/source/Pantages_Theatre_(Hollywood)) theater circuits of [vaudeville](/source/vaudeville), where she became acquainted with [Lita Grey](/source/Lita_Grey). Merle broke his leg ending the duo, prompting Grey to suggest silent films to Merna. Kennedy was best known during her brief career for her role opposite [Charlie Chaplin](/source/Charlie_Chaplin) in the silent film ''[The Circus](/source/The_Circus_(1928_film))'' (1928), a role for which she was brought to the attention of Chaplin by her friend Lita Grey, who became Chaplin's second wife in 1924.{{cite web |title=The Short Life of Merna Kennedy, Chaplin's Co-Star in "The Circus" |url=https://travsd.wordpress.com/2017/09/07/the-short-life-of-merna-kennedy-chaplins-co-star-in-the-circus/ |website=(Travalanche) |accessdate=28 October 2018 |date=7 September 2017}} She had red hair{{Cite web | url=https://ia601600.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/32/items/picturegoerjanap00odha/picturegoerjanap00odha_jp2.zip&file=picturegoerjanap00odha_jp2/picturegoerjanap00odha_0211.jp2&id=picturegoerjanap00odha&scale=2&rotate=0| title=Growing Glory | website=archive.org}} and muscular legs (due to being a dancer,) the latter of which helped her gain the role of the circus bareback rider. thumb|right|Kennedy in May 1933 Kennedy continued acting after ''The Circus'', starring in early sound films, but retired in 1934 when she married choreographer/director [Busby Berkeley](/source/Busby_Berkeley) on February 10, 1934{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_VzEl8irxcC&q=merna+kennedy+busby+berkeley&pg=PA150-IA13|title=Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley|last=Spivak|first=Jeffrey|date=2010-09-29|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=9780813140087|language=en}} at [Hollywood United Methodist Church](/source/Hollywood_United_Methodist_Church).{{Cite news|url=https://www.lamag.com/article/heaven-sent/|title=Heaven Sent Los Angeles Magazine|last=Mercado|first=Eric|date=2012-07-01|newspaper=Lamag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-07}} Their marriage broke up by 1936.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KUtPAQAAQBAJ&q=merna+kennedy&pg=PA10|title=Wife of the Life of the Party: A Memoir|last1=Chaplin|first1=Lita Grey|last2=Vance|first2=Jeffrey|date=1998-03-05|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9781461674320|language=en}} ==Death== Kennedy died at age 36 of a heart attack on December 20, 1944, four days after her marriage to [Master Sergeant](/source/Master_Sergeant) Forrest Brayton.{{cite news |title=Chaplin Protégé Taken by Death |newspaper=[The Spokesman-Review](/source/The_Spokesman-Review) |agency=[Associated Press](/source/Associated_Press) |page=4 |date=28 December 1944}} She is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bOJCgAAQBAJ&q=merna+kennedy&pg=PA179|title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory|last=Ellenberger|first=Allan R.|date=2001-05-01|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786409839|language=en}} ==Filmography== ===Silent films=== [[File:Skinner Steps Out photo 2.jpg|thumb|right|Kennedy and [Glenn Tryon](/source/Glenn_Tryon) in the film ''[Skinner Steps Out](/source/Skinner_Steps_Out)'' (1929)]] *1928 ''[The Circus](/source/The_Circus_(1928_film))'' as The Ringmaster's Step-daughter, a Circus Rider *1929 ''[Barnum Was Right](/source/Barnum_Was_Right)'' *1929 ''[Skinner Steps Out](/source/Skinner_Steps_Out)'' ===Talkies=== *1929 ''[Broadway](/source/Broadway_(1929_film))'' *1930 ''[The Rampant Age](/source/The_Rampant_Age)'' *1930 ''[Embarrassing Moments](/source/Embarrassing_Moments_(1930_film))'' *1930 ''[The King of Jazz](/source/The_King_of_Jazz)'' *1930 ''[Worldly Goods](/source/Worldly_Goods_(1930_film))'' *1930 ''[The Midnight Special](/source/The_Midnight_Special_(film))'' *1931 ''[Stepping Out](/source/Stepping_Out_(1931_film))'' *1932 ''[The Gay Buckaroo](/source/The_Gay_Buckaroo)'' *1932 ''[Lady with a Past](/source/Lady_with_a_Past)'' *1932 ''[Ghost Valley](/source/Ghost_Valley)'' *1932 ''[Come On, Tarzan](/source/Come_On%2C_Tarzan)'' *1932 ''[The All American](/source/The_All_American_(1932_film))'' *1932 ''[The Red-Haired Alibi](/source/The_Red-Haired_Alibi)'' *1932 ''[I Like It That Way](/source/I_Like_It_That_Way)'' *1933 ''[Laughter in Hell](/source/Laughter_in_Hell)'' *1933 ''[Emergency Call](/source/Emergency_Call_(1933_film))'' *1933 ''[Easy Millions](/source/Easy_Millions)'' *1933 ''[Don't Bet on Love](/source/Don't_Bet_on_Love)'' *1933 ''[I Love That Man](/source/I_Love_That_Man)'' (scenes deleted) *1933 ''[Arizona to Broadway](/source/Arizona_to_Broadway)'' *1933 ''[Police Call](/source/Police_Call_(1933_film))'' *1933 ''[The Big Chance](/source/The_Big_Chance_(1933_film))'' *1933 ''[Son of a Sailor](/source/Son_of_a_Sailor)'' *1934 ''[Wonder Bar](/source/Wonder_Bar)'' *1934 ''[Jimmy the Gent](/source/Jimmy_the_Gent_(film))'' ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{commons category|Merna Kennedy}} *{{IMDb name|0448224}} *[http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/11317/merna-kennedy Merna Kennedy] at Virtual History *{{Find a Grave|8710611}} {{Portal bar|Biography|California|Illinois|United States}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Merna}} Category:1908 births Category:1944 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Actors from Kankakee, Illinois Category:Actresses from Illinois Category:American film actresses Category:American silent film actresses Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Merna Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merna_Kennedy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merna_Kennedy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.