Winifred Lenihan
| Winifred Lenihan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Winifred Lenihan December 6, 1898 Brooklyn, New York USA |
| Died | July 27, 1964 (aged 65) Sea Cliff, New York USA |
| Occupation | Actress Playwright Director |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Frank Walker Wheeler (1934–1941) his death |
Winifred Lenihan (December 6, 1898 – July 27, 1964) was an American actress, writer and director. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making her debut in 1918. Although she portrayed the would-be eloper Anne in The Dover Road (1921), Anne Hathaway in Will Shakespeare (1923), and the resourceful Mary Todd in White Wings (1926), she is recalled mostly as Joan of Arc in the original American production of Saint Joan (1923).
Winifred Lenihan was born in Brooklyn and, as she said, "always lived within subway distance of 42nd Street." She had an early interest in acting. The fact that she was attractive with a bright smile did her no harm.
At Bryant High School in Queens, she organized a dramatic company and played leads. Although she was attracted by the theater, she recalled, she had no idea of how to get on the stage, and so dismissed the idea as romantic and nice but impractical.
"I was all packed up to go to Smith College to prepare for a teachers career," she said in 1920, "when an advertisement of a dramatic school caught my eye. I went there, took the tests and became a pupil."
From the school, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, she made her stage debut in 1918 as Belline in The Betrothal at the Playhouse in New York. Then she played in stock leading roles, portraying everything from an "ingenue to an old woman."
Although she appeared in other plays during the 1920s and the early '30s, Lenihan gradually became more interested in directing and teaching.
In 1925, she became the first director of the Theater Guild's School of Acting in New York. Although she hesitated at first when she was offered the post, she said, "the idea of directing a group of students in the art of acting intrigued me."
There was another reason, too. Like others, she was haunted by the inevitable months of idleness on Broadway. Even though she might be able to carry herself financially, her boundless energy revolted against any thumb-twiddling periods. While Lenihan devoted much of her talent and time to teaching acting, she felt that talent was innate and, while it could be improved, it could not be created. She looked for "warmth of emotion, imagination and intelligence."
...
Wikipedia