Merna Kennedy
Merna Kennedy | |
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![]() Kennedy in 1933 | |
Born | Maude Kahler September 7, 1908 Kankakee, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | December 20, 1944 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 36)
Resting place | Inglewood Park Cemetery, California |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1928–1934 |
Spouses |
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Merna Kennedy (born Maude Kahler;[1] September 7, 1908 – December 20, 1944) was an American actress of the late silent era and the transitional period into talkies.
Career
[edit]She was born in Kankakee, 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 and Pantages theater circuits of vaudeville, where she became acquainted with Lita Grey.[2] Merle broke his leg ending the duo, prompting Grey to suggest silent films to Merna.[2]
Kennedy was best known during her brief career for her role opposite Charlie Chaplin in the silent film The Circus (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.[3] She had red hair[4] and muscular legs (due to being a dancer,) the latter of which helped her gain the role of the circus bareback rider.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Merna_Kennedy_CM333.jpg/220px-Merna_Kennedy_CM333.jpg)
Kennedy continued acting after The Circus, starring in early sound films, but retired in 1934 when she married choreographer/director Busby Berkeley on February 10, 1934[5] at Hollywood United Methodist Church.[6] Their marriage broke up by 1936.[2]
Death
[edit]Kennedy died at age 36 of a heart attack on December 20, 1944, four days after her marriage to Master Sergeant Forrest Brayton.[7] She is buried at Pinecrest Cemetery in California.[8]
Filmography
[edit]Silent films
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Skinner_Steps_Out_photo_2.jpg/220px-Skinner_Steps_Out_photo_2.jpg)
- 1928 The Circus as The Ringmaster's Step-daughter, a Circus Rider
- 1929 Barnum Was Right
- 1929 Skinner Steps Out
Talkies
[edit]- 1929 Broadway
- 1930 The Rampant Age
- 1930 Embarrassing Moments
- 1930 The King of Jazz
- 1930 Worldly Goods
- 1930 The Midnight Special
- 1931 Stepping Out
- 1932 The Gay Buckaroo
- 1932 Lady with a Past
- 1932 Ghost Valley
- 1932 Come On, Tarzan
- 1932 The All American
- 1932 The Red-Haired Alibi
- 1932 I Like It That Way
- 1933 Laughter in Hell
- 1933 Emergency Call
- 1933 Easy Millions
- 1933 Don't Bet on Love
- 1933 I Love That Man (scenes deleted)
- 1933 Arizona to Broadway
- 1933 Police Call
- 1933 The Big Chance
- 1933 Son of a Sailor
- 1934 Wonder Bar
- 1934 Jimmy the Gent
References
[edit]- ^ Birth Records from the Kankakee Historical Society.
- ^ a b c Chaplin, Lita Grey; Vance, Jeffrey (March 5, 1998). Wife of the Life of the Party: A Memoir. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9781461674320.
- ^ "The Short Life of Merna Kennedy, Chaplin's Co-Star in "The Circus"". (Travalanche). September 7, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ 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 [bare URL]
- ^ Spivak, Jeffrey (September 29, 2010). Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813140087.
- ^ Mercado, Eric (July 1, 2012). "Heaven Sent Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ "Chaplin Protégé Taken by Death". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. December 28, 1944. p. 4.
- ^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (May 1, 2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. ISBN 9780786409839.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Merna Kennedy at IMDb
- Merna Kennedy at Virtual History
- Merna Kennedy at Find a Grave