Mary Duncan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Duncan

Mary Duncan (August 13, 1895 – May 9, 1993) was an American actress.

She began her career as a child actress playing on the Broadway stage from 1910. In 1926 she played the daughter "Poppy" in the smash hit and controversial play The Shanghai Gesture. Florence Reed played her mother called Mother Goddam in which Reed kills Duncan in a startling end to the play. This play was turned into a very sanitized film in 1941 with Gene Tierney.

She met and married Stephen "Laddie" Sanford, who was an international polo player as well as director of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company, in 1933, after which she retired from films. They remained married until his death in 1977. She spent much of her remaining years working with several major charities.

Her last film appearance was with Katharine Hepburn in the 1933 film Morning Glory.

She kept herself active by playing golf twice a week and swimming every morning before breakfast, which helped her maintain her size 8 figure. As an actress, she had followed the ministrations of Sylvia of Hollywood to keep her shape.

Mary Duncan died in her sleep aged 97. She was survived by a niece and great-niece.

Filmography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Duncan

From New York Times Obit Mary Duncan Sanford, a philanthropist and society grande dame for many years, died Sunday at her home in Palm Beach, Fla. She was 98 and also had residences in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Locust Valley, L.I., and Manhattan.

She died in her sleep.

Mrs. Sanford reigned over Palm Beach society for half a century. She was a founder of the Polo Ball and was active in many charities, including the American Cancer Society, the American Red Cross and Planned Parenthood.

In New York City, Mrs. Sanford was the longtime national chairwoman of the April in Paris Ball Committee, which raised money for several charities, including the Leukemia Society of America and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation.

She arrived in Palm Beach in 1933, newly wed to Stephen Sanford, an international polo star and a director of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company Inc. He died in 1977.

In Palm Beach, they lived in a mansion, Los Incas, near the winter home of Rose Kennedy, who became Mrs. Sanford's close friend. The Sanfords regularly entertained a wide variety of notables, including the King and Queen of Jordan and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Mrs. Sanford was a native of Richmond. She attended Cornell University for a year but dropped out to become an actress. She had an early success in the lead role in "Shanghai Gesture" at the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway.

She later went to Hollywood, where she co-starred with Marion Davies in "Five and Ten." Miss Davies introduced her to Mr. Sanford after a polo match in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Mrs. Sanford is survived by a niece, A. Maxine Warner of Alexandria, Va., and a grandniece.