Existing comment:
Lynn Fontanne, 1887-1983:
Lynn Fontanne studied with Ellen Terry, then England's most revered actress, and was just beginning her own distinguished career when she posted for Wilfred de Glehn in 1912 to earn extra money as an artist's model. It would be another decade before she and Alfred Lunt met and formed the most critically acclaimed theatrical partnership of their generation. Married in 1922, Lunt and Fontanne brought a naturalism to acting that transformed American theater: one critic wrote, "they play together... with a fluency that is matchless." From 1928 until they retired in 1960, they excelled in urbane comedy and starred in twenty-seven productions, including "Pygmalion," "Design for Living," "Taming of the Shrew," and "The Guardsman". As for their box-office appeal, writer Ring Lardner notes, "You want to pack 'em out in front? / Hire Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt."
Wilfred de Glehn, 1912 |