Difference between revisions of "Caroline Frances Cooke"

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(b. Illinois, 29/12/1875 – d. Los Angeles, 08/07/1962)American actress. Sometimes credited as [[Frances Cooke]], this American actress was born on 29 December 1875.  She was married to [[Lorimer Johnston]] and acted in some 30 of the shorts her husband directed for the American Film Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara.  Prior to that she was with the Selig Polyscope Company.  When, late in 1915, he was engaged by [[I.W. Schlesinger]], she accompanied him to South Africa and acted in five of the films he produced for [[African Film Productions]], usually in motherly roles: [[A Story of the Rand]] (1916), [[A Zulu’s Devotion]] (1916), [[The Splendid Waster]], (1916)  ''[[Gloria]]'' (1916) and [[Sonny’s Little Bit]] (1917).  After their return to the United States she acted in only two more films, namely James Young’s ''The Bells'' (1926) and Rowland V. Lee’s ''Son of Frankenstein'' (1939). (FO)
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Caroline Frances Cooke (b. Chicago, Illinois, 29/12/1875 – d. Los Angeles, 08/07/1962) was an American actress.  
  
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== Biography ==
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Caroline Frances Cooke (usually credited as Caroline Cooke) was a stage and screen actress.  With a German-born father and a Swedish-born mother, it is likely that Cooke was not the family’s original surname, but that is how she appears in the 1900 Census – as a single actress living in New York.  However, at some stage she married actor/director [[Lorimer Johnston]] and before they turned to movies, the couple toured the vaudeville circuit performing comedy sketches from New Orleans to San Francisco.  When Johnston started directing, first for the Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago and then for the American Film Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, Cooke moved with him and acted in many of the shorts made by her husband.
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When he was engaged by [[I.W. Schlesinger]] to launch [[African Film Productions]], she accompanied him to South Africa.  They arrived in Cape Town in November 1915 and she subsequently acted in eight films produced by the company, five of them directed by Johnston: ''[[A Story of the Rand]]'' (for which she also provided the original story), ''[[The Splendid Waster]]'', ''[[The Gun Runner]]'',  ''[[Gloria]]'' and ''[[Sonny’s Little Bit]]'', all in 1916.  In addition she appeared in ''[[A Zulu’s Devotion]]'' ([[Joseph Albrecht]]/1916), ''[[The Water Cure]]'' ([[B.F. Clinton]]/1916) and ''[[De Voortrekkers]]'' ([[Harold M. Shaw]]/1916).  In fact, just prior to coming out to South Africa she had acted with Clinton in a short entitled ''The Light in a Woman’s Eyes'' (1915), on which Johnston had been associate producer.  The couple returned to the United States via the Far East.  In 1926 they both appeared in ''The Bells'' (James Young/1926), with Lionel Barrymore, but she seems to have dropped out of acting until 1939-1944, when she appeared in a number of uncredited roles for Universal Pictures.  She died in 1962 and is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.  (FO)
  
 
== Sources ==
 
== Sources ==
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Le Roux, André I. & Fourie, Lilla – Filmverlede: geskiedenis van die Suid-Afrikaanse speelfilm
  
 
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0177386/?ref_=fn_nm_nm_1
 
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0177386/?ref_=fn_nm_nm_1

Latest revision as of 18:04, 5 November 2018

Caroline Frances Cooke (b. Chicago, Illinois, 29/12/1875 – d. Los Angeles, 08/07/1962) was an American actress.

Biography

Caroline Frances Cooke (usually credited as Caroline Cooke) was a stage and screen actress. With a German-born father and a Swedish-born mother, it is likely that Cooke was not the family’s original surname, but that is how she appears in the 1900 Census – as a single actress living in New York. However, at some stage she married actor/director Lorimer Johnston and before they turned to movies, the couple toured the vaudeville circuit performing comedy sketches from New Orleans to San Francisco. When Johnston started directing, first for the Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago and then for the American Film Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, Cooke moved with him and acted in many of the shorts made by her husband.

When he was engaged by I.W. Schlesinger to launch African Film Productions, she accompanied him to South Africa. They arrived in Cape Town in November 1915 and she subsequently acted in eight films produced by the company, five of them directed by Johnston: A Story of the Rand (for which she also provided the original story), The Splendid Waster, The Gun Runner, Gloria and Sonny’s Little Bit, all in 1916. In addition she appeared in A Zulu’s Devotion (Joseph Albrecht/1916), The Water Cure (B.F. Clinton/1916) and De Voortrekkers (Harold M. Shaw/1916). In fact, just prior to coming out to South Africa she had acted with Clinton in a short entitled The Light in a Woman’s Eyes (1915), on which Johnston had been associate producer. The couple returned to the United States via the Far East. In 1926 they both appeared in The Bells (James Young/1926), with Lionel Barrymore, but she seems to have dropped out of acting until 1939-1944, when she appeared in a number of uncredited roles for Universal Pictures. She died in 1962 and is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. (FO)

Sources

Le Roux, André I. & Fourie, Lilla – Filmverlede: geskiedenis van die Suid-Afrikaanse speelfilm

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0177386/?ref_=fn_nm_nm_1

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