From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cowl in 1913

Caricature of Jane Cowl in The Road to Rome, drawn by Al Hirschfeld

Jane Cowl (December 14, 1883 - June 22, 1950) was born as Grace Bailey in Boston, Massachusetts. She was a successful early American film and stage actress and playwright.

Biography

She made her Broadway debut in New York City in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall in 1903, the play opened on the night of her twentieth birthday. Her first leading role was Fanny Perry in 1909 in Leo Ditrichstein's Is Matrimony a Failure?, produced by David Belasco, and then she played stock. This was followed by The Gamblers(1910), her first great success, and by Within the Law(1912), Common Clay, and other successes (New International Encyclopedia). She was known for her interpretation of Shakespearean roles, playing Juliet, Cleopatra and Viola on Broadway. She made Broadway history by playing Juliet over 1000 consecutive performances in 1923.

In 1934 she created the role of Lael Wyngate in S. N. Behrman's Rain from Heaven opposite actor John Halliday. Noting the challenges posed by Behrman's heightened dialogue, critic Gilbert Gabriel noted approvingly that their scenes together were "models of aristocratic parlando."^[1]

She was the lead in two silent films, Garden of Lies (1915) and The Spreading Dawn (1917). Then, after taking nearly 30 years off from films, Cowl returned for several supporting roles in the 1940s. Her final film was Payment on Demand (1951) with Bette Davis.

Family

Cowl married theater critic Adolphe Klauber on June 18 1906. They were married until his death in 1933^[2].

Death

Jane Cowl died of cancer in Santa Monica, California on June 22, 1950, aged 66 and her ashes following cremation were buried at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery. She and Klauber had no children.

Works

Jane Cowl wrote the following plays:

• Lilac Time - 1917 (under the pseudonym "Alan Langdon Martin")
• Daybreak - 1917 (co-written with Jane Murfin)
• Information Please - 1918
• Smilin' Through - 1919 (co-written with Jane Murfin under the pseudonym "Alan Langdon Martin")
• The Jealous Moon - 1928

References

External links

• Jane Cowl at the Internet Movie Database
• Jane Cowl at Women in American History website
• Jane Cowl at Find a Grave
• Jane Cowl at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jane Cowl portrait gallery at NYP Library
• first of three pages of photos shot by Nickolas Muray devoted to Jane Cowl