Mrs. Anna Townsend (January 5, 1845[citation needed] – September 11, 1923) was a silent film actress who first turned to acting as a career very late in life. Featured in several Harold Lloyd films,[1] Townsend is probably best known for her role as Harold's good-hearted grandmother in Grandma's Boy (1922).[2] That film was developed around Townsend's personality.[3]
Anna Townsend | |
|---|---|
_-_Lloyd_%26_Townsend.jpg) Townsend (right) with Harold Lloyd in Grandma's Boy | |
| Born | January 5, 1845 |
| Died | September 11, 1923 (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, US |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1913-1923 |
| Children | 1 |
Early life and career
editTownsend was born in Utica, New York. She moved from there to Los Angeles in 1885. Her film career began in 1919.[1]
According to a 1922 profile published in the Los Angeles Evening Express, Townsend's sole acting experience prior to her brief silent screen heyday was an even briefer pre-Civil War tour of duty with the Holman Light Opera Company.[4] This was in large part corroborated the following year by the Sacramento Bee, whose obituary for Townsend states that the actress's emergence "three years ago" constituted the first time "she [had] ever considered pursuing acting as a profession."[3]
Personal life and death
editMarried at least once and predeceased by her husband,[5] Mrs. Townsend died on September 11, 1923, at her home in Los Angeles,[6] apparently due to an unspecified illness contracted two months earlier while sightseeing at Yosemite National Park.[3]
She was survived, at the very least, by one grown child, a daughter.[7][6] Moreover, judging from a profile of Townsend published that spring, in which references made to both "grown-up children" and "grandchildren" figure prominently,[5] there were almost certainly additional survivors.
Filmography
edit| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1913 | The Hoyden's Awakening | Unknown role (as Mrs. Anna Townsend) | |
| 1914 | The Real Thing in Cowboys | Mrs. Mitchell | |
| 1917 | A Marked Man | Harry's Mother (as Mrs. Townsend) | Lost film |
| 1918 | Three Mounted Men | Harry's Mother (as Mrs. Anna Townsend) | Lost film |
| 1921 | Beyond the Trail | Unknown role | Uncredited |
| 1922 | Grandma's Boy | His Grandma | |
| 1922 | Dr. Jack | Jamison's Mother | Uncredited |
| 1923 | Daddy | Mrs. Holden | |
| 1923 | Safety Last! | very small woman at the Sale | Uncredited |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | American Masters | Harold's Grandmother in 'Grandma's Boy' | Archive footage, posthumously release, episode: Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius |
References
edit- ^ a b "Aged Film Actress Is Dead Here". Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1923. p. II 10.
- ^ Klepper, Robert K. (2005). Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-7864-2164-0.
Josephine Crowell as the mother-in-law does in Hot Water what Anna Townsend did for Grandma's Boy (1922); she steals the show in virtually every sequence she appears in.
- ^ a b c "Anna Townsend, Screen's Best Known Grandma, Dead". The Sacramento Bee. September 29, 1923. p. 39. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'Grandma' Anna Townsend Is 79, Spry as Cricket". Los Angeles Evening Express. June 10, 1922. p. 9. Retrieved April 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Grandma Adored at Roach Studio". Daily Gazette-Martinez. April 4, 1923. p. 4. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Mrs. Anna Townsend [is] an adorable little lady who boasts of her seventy-nine summers. Mrs. Townsend is a widow who lives in a spic-and-span house, quite independent of her grown-up children. [...] She worked for two years at the studio before letting her children know about it. One day there was a family party at the theatre. 'Oh, there's our Granny,' one of the grandchildren cried.
- ^ a b "Anna Townsend, Actress, Dies". The Times Herald. Michigan, Port Huron. September 12, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved March 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Anna Townsend". The New York Times. September 13, 1923. p. 19. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
External links
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