Nell W. Franzen (November 17, 1889 – August 21, 1973) was an American film and stage actress of the silent era. A native of Portland, Oregon, Franzen began her career acting in local theatre. She signed with the Baker Theatre Company and performed in various stage productions, becoming a prolific stage actress in the Pacific Northwest.
Nell Franzen | |
|---|---|
 Franzen ca. 1922 | |
| Born | November 17, 1889 |
| Died | August 21, 1973 (aged 83) Orange, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California 34°07′31″N 118°14′37″E / 34.1252°N 118.2437°E |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1913–1924 |
She later moved to Los Angeles in 1913 to pursue a career in silent films, signing a contract with the America Film Company. One of her earliest film appearances was in Love and the Law (1913) with Wallace Reid, followed by 1916's Lord Loveland Discovers America, and Embers. Franzen made her final film appearance in 1924 before retiring from acting.
Early life
editNell Franzen was born on November 17, 1889, in Portland, Oregon[1] to John O'Flarrity Franzen and Mary Ellen Coshow. According to the 1930 United States Census, Franzen's father was from Massachusetts, and her mother a native of Missouri.[2] She was the second of two children; she had one older sister, Mae Frances Franzen.[citation needed]
Career
editStage career
editShe began her career as an actress working in stock theater.[3] She began performing onstage with the Baker Stock Company at their Baker Theatre location in Portland in 1910,[4] under stage director Marshall Farnum.[5] She appeared in the stage production of The Toyshop in 1908,[6] and also performed with the Sanford Stock Company in Vancouver, British Columbia.[7]
In 1912, Franzen appeared with the Harry Corson Clarke theatre company in Honolulu, Hawaii.[8]
Films
edit
After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in silent films, Franzen toured the world performing for veterans in soldier's camps during World War I alongside fellow silent film star Neva Gerber.[9]
Among her earliest credits was opposite Wallace Reid in Love is the Law (1913).[10] In a 1916 issue of Motography, it was noted: "Nell Franzen, who has been playing minor parts in American film productions, is climbing up in the profession...Miss Franzen won her advancement through the good work done in the small parts given her. She is small and pretty and has a pleasing screen appearance."[11]
Her success with audiences and critics led to larger roles in silent films, most of them with the American Film Company of Santa Barbara, in which she often acted opposite Constance Crawley and Arthur Maude; these roles included parts in Lord Loveland Discovers America (1916) and Embers (1916).[12] She also appeared in the first chapter of the film serial The Diamond from the Sky with Lottie Pickford.[13]
She also continued to work in theatre, performing in a touring one act play titled "Room 13," written by Sherwood MacDonald, opposite Helen Emma Reaume, wife of Tyrone Power. The one-act toured throughout southern California in 1919.[14]
Personal life
editAccording to the California Death Index, she died on August 21, 1973, in Orange, California, at the age of 83.[15] She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, alongside her mother, Mary, and sister, Mae.[citation needed]
Credits
editFilmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | Love and the Law | — | [10] | |
| 1913 | The Ashes of Three | — | [13] | |
| 1915 | Ima Simp, Detective | — | [16] | |
| 1915 | The Ladder of Love | John's Sister | [13] | |
| 1915 | The Diamond from the Sky | — | Ch. 1 of serial | [13] |
| 1915 | The Trail of the Serpent | Carlotta | [13] | |
| 1915 | Film Tempo | Charlotte Briggs | [13] | |
| 1915 | In the Sunset Country | Madge, The Lost Soul | [13] | |
| 1915 | Yes or No | — | [13] | |
| 1916 | Time and Tide | Ruth Walters | [13] | |
| 1916 | Dust | — | [17] | |
| 1916 | Lord Loveland Discovers America | Izzy | [13] | |
| 1916 | Life's Blind Alley | Rose McKee | [13] | |
| 1916 | Embers | Maysie Stafford | [18] | |
| 1916 | Revelations | Marie | [13] | |
| 1916 | The Courtesan | Bettie Howard | [13] | |
| 1916 | Purity | Maiden | [13] | |
| 1916 | The Strength of Donald McKenzie | — | [13] | |
| 1924 | Sagebrush Gospel | Mrs. Harper | [19] |
Stage credits
edit| Year | Title | Role | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | The Toyshop | Doll | Baker Theatre, Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| 1909 | Merely Mary Ann | Sister Trippitt | Baker Theater, Portland, Oregon, U.S.[20] |
| 1910 | Under Southern Skies | Anner Lizer | The Spokane in Spokane, Washington, U.S.[21] |
| 1910 | The Prince Chap | Phoebe Puckers | Baker Theater, Portland, Oregon, U.S.[7] |
| 1910 | The Man from Mexico | — | Baker Theater, Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| 1910 | All the Comforts of Home | Emily Pettibone | Baker Theater, Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| 1910 | Sapho | Soubrise | Baker Theater, Portland, Oregon, U.S.[7] |
| 1911 | Brown's in Town | Freda Von Hollenbeck | Bungalow Theater, Portland, Oregon, U.S.[22] |
| 1919 | Room 13 | — | San Diego, California; Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
References
edit- ^ The Eugene Guard 1911, p. 5.
- ^ "Nell W. Franzen". The United States Census. 1930. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- ^ Schilling 1961, p. 363.
- ^ Logan 1910, p. 17.
- ^ New York Dramatic Mirror & December 1910, p. 17.
- ^ The Sunday Oregonian 1908, p. 4.
- ^ a b c "Charming Portland Actress Pleases Patrons at Baker Theater". The Morning Oregonian. Vol. L, no. 15, 406. 1910-04-13. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
- ^ Long 2004, p. 16.
- ^ The Sunday Oregonian 1921, p. 4.
- ^ a b Fleming 2013, p. 52.
- ^ Woodruff 1916, p. 20.
- ^ "Lord Lovelane Discovers America (1916)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Nell Franzen". American Film Company database. University of California, Santa Barbara. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- ^ The Los Angeles Herald 1919, p. 26.
- ^ ""California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch Nell W Franzen, 21 Aug 1973". Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
- ^ Jura & Bardin 1999, pp. 223–24.
- ^ "Dust: (American)". The Moving Picture World. 29 (2). New York, NY: Chalmers Publishing Co. 1916-07-08. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
- ^ Flowers & Frizler 2004, p. 194.
- ^ Lentz 1996, p. 297.
- ^ Greene 1909, p. 7.
- ^ The Spokane Daily Chronicle 1910, p. 2.
- ^ "New Bills at Theaters: Brown's in Town". The Morning Oregonian. Vol. LI, no. 15, 686. 1911-03-06. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
Sources
edit- "At the Theaters: "Sapho" at the Baker". The Morning Oregonian: 15. June 13, 1910.
- "The Baker Chain of High Class Stock Organizations" (PDF). The New York Dramatic Mirror. New York City, New York. December 21, 1910.
- "Baker Company Draws Big House". The Spokane Daily Chronicle. December 5, 1910.
- "Cast of Characters to Take Part in "The Toyshop"". The Sunday Oregonian. June 22, 1908.
- "Charming Portland Actress Pleases Patrons at the Baker Theatre". The Morning Oregonian. April 13, 1910.
- "Director Claims Fast System of Longhand". The Los Angeles Herald. May 20, 1919.
- Fleming, E.J. (2013). Wallace Reid: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Idol. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-47725-8.
- Flowers, John; Frizler, Paul (2004). Psychotherapists on Film, 1899-1999. Vol. 1. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-41297-6.
- Greene, Arthur A. (May 10, 1909). "At the Theaters". The Morning Oregonian.
- Jura, Jean-Jacques; Bardin, Rodney Norman (1999). Balboa Films: A History and Filmography of the Silent Film Studio. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-43098-7.
- Lentz, Harris M. (1996). Western and Frontier Film and Television Credits 1903-1995. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-40217-5.
- Logan, John F. (May 28, 1910). "Baker Stock Company Reopened and Demonstrated Its Ability - Bills of the Week". The New York Dramatic Mirror. New York City, New York.
- Long, Bruce (2004) [1991]. William Desmond Taylor: A Dossier. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-810-84171-0.
- "May 27, 1911". The Eugene Guard. Eugene, Oregon. May 27, 1911.
- Woodruff, Paul M., ed. (1916-06-10). "June Americans: Santa Barbara Studios of American Companies..." Motography: The Motion Picture Trade Journal. XV (24). Chicago, Illinois: Electricity Magazine Corporation: 20. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
- "New Bills at Theaters". The Morning Oregonian. March 6, 1911.
- "Portland Girl Here on Vacation From Film Work". The Sunday Oregonian. April 10, 1921.
- Schilling, Lester Lorenzo (1961). The History of the Theatre in Portland, Oregon, 1846-1949. Vol. 2. University of Wisconsin--Madison.
Further reading
edit- Katchmer, George A. (1991). Eighty Silent Film Stars: Biographies and Filmographies of the Obscure to the Well Known. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-899-50494-0.
External links
edit
- Nell Franzen at IMDb
- Nell Franzen at Find a Grave
- Write-up on Franzen in Motography (1916)