Norma Mitchell

Norma Stafford Mitchell (May 8, 1884 – May 29, 1967) was an American actress and writer.

Norma Mitchell
A young woman, seated on a bench, wearing a large dark hat, a light-colored blouse with a scooped neckline, and a light-colored skirt
Mitchell c. 1910
Born
Norma Stafford Mitchell

May 8, 1884
Eastham, Massachusetts
DiedMay 29, 1967
Greenwich, Connecticut
Other namesNorma Steele, Norma Talbot (married names)
Occupation(s)Actress, writer
Notable workCradle Snatchers (1925), Post Road (1934)
Spouse(s)Wilbur Daniel Steele, Hayden Talbot

Early life

Mitchell was born in Eastham, Massachusetts, the daughter of George William Mitchell and Mary Louisa Horton Mitchell. Her father was a mining engineer.[1]

Career

Mitchell appeared in Broadway comedies, including The Call of the Cricket (1910), The Truth Wagon (1912),[2][3] Her Husband's Wife (1917),[4] March Hares (1921), To the Ladies (1922), The Goldfish (1922), Why Not? (1922), The New Poor (1924), and Dancing Mothers (1924). She also acted in the films The Woman Accused (1933),[5] Melody in Spring (1934), and Susan and God (1940).[1]

Mitchell wrote Cradle Snatchers (1925) with Russell G. Medcraft,[6] a comedy starring Mary Boland, Edna May Oliver, and a young Humphrey Bogart;[7] it was adapted for the screen three times, as Cradle Snatchers (1927), as Why Leave Home? (1929), and as Cole Porter's musical Let's Face It (1943).[8][9] Mitchell and Medcraft collaborated again in writing Buy, Buy, Baby (1926).[10] Mitchell also wrote a sketch, "Her Morning Bath", made popular in 1926 by vaudeville star Charlotte Greenwood.[11][12]

Mitchell and her second husband cowrote the plays Any Woman (1934)[13] and Post Road (1934–1935),[14][15] "a stubborn but not untalented play that refuses to make its peace with the theatre", according to critic Brooks Atkinson.[16] Post Road was adapted for television in 1952 for Robert Montgomery Presents, and again in 1956 for Encounter. Her final play on Broadway was Autumn Hill (1942), written with John Harris.[17]

Personal life

Mitchell married twice.[18] Her first husband was journalist and playwright Hayden Talbot, father of editor Betsy Blackwell; they married in 1913 and divorced in 1921.[19] Her second husband was writer Wilbur Daniel Steele;[20] they married in 1932, in London.[21] Steele survived her when she died in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1967, aged 83 years.[1]

References
  1. "Norma Mitchell, Actress, Dead; Co-Author of 'Cradle Snatchers'". The New York Times. 1967-05-30. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  2. Hines, Dixie; Hanaford, Harry Prescott (1914). Who's who in Music and Drama. H.P. Hanaford. p. 433.
  3. Jordon, Sanger & (1916). Catalogue of Plays, 1916. Sanger & Jordan. p. 171.
  4. "New Attractions for New York Playgoers". Dramatic Mirror. 77: 7. January 20, 1917.
  5. Glancy, Mark (2020-09-25). Cary Grant, the Making of a Hollywood Legend. Oxford University Press. p. 505. ISBN 978-0-19-005313-0.
  6. Cradle Snatchers. Samuel French, Inc. ISBN 978-0-573-60733-2.
  7. Allen, Kelcy (September 8, 1925). "'Cradle Snatchers', Succession of Hearty Laughs, Opens at Music Box". Women's Wear. p. 6 – via ProQuest.
  8. Mordden, Ethan (1999). Beautiful Mornin': The Broadway Musical in the 1940s. Oxford University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-19-512851-2.
  9. Fisher, James; Londré, Felicia Hardison (2017-11-22). Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Modernism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-5381-0786-7.
  10. Tucker, David C. (2008-03-11). Shirley Booth: A Biography and Career Record. McFarland. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-7864-3600-2.
  11. Hayter-Menzies, Grant (2007-04-18). Charlotte Greenwood: The Life and Career of the Comic Star of Vaudeville, Radio and Film. McFarland. pp. 141, 234. ISBN 978-0-7864-2995-0.
  12. Mantle, Burns (1925-09-13). "Cussing Drama's New Start". Daily News. p. 141. Retrieved 2021-09-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "'Any Woman'". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. August 28, 1934. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Kabatchnik, Amnon (2010). Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection : an Annotated Repertoire. Scarecrow Press. pp. 403–405. ISBN 978-0-8108-6963-9.
  15. Post Road, by Wilbur Steele & Norma Mitchell. Montreal Repertory Theatre. 1936.
  16. Atkinson, Brooks (December 5, 1934). "The Play: Lucile Watson in a Mystery Comedy by Wilbur Daniel Steele and Norma Mitchell". The New York Times. p. 28 – via ProQuest.
  17. "Autumn Hill". Billboard. April 25, 1942. p. 10.
  18. "Wilbur Daniel Steele Marries in London". January 15, 1932. p. 18 – via ProQuest.
  19. "Author Talbot Weds Actress Saturday". Los Angeles Herald. June 12, 1913. Retrieved September 11, 2021 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  20. "Author Seeking Older America". The Spokesman-Review. 1929-07-28. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-09-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. "U.S. Writers Wed in London". The Pittsburgh Press. 1932-01-15. p. 29. Retrieved 2021-09-11 – via Newspapers.com.
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