Mary Duncan

Mary Duncan (August 13, 1894 – May 9, 1993) was an American stage and film actress. She is best known for her performances in F.W. Murnau's City Girl (1930) and Morning Glory (1933). Early years Duncan was born in Luttrellville, Virginia, the sixth of eight children born to Capt. William S. Duncan and his wife. She attended Cornell University for two years (or one year) before settling on acting as a career. When she left Cornell, she studied acting under Yvette Guilbert. Career Duncan began her career as a child actress playing on the Broadway stage from 1910. Her Broadway credits include Human Nature (1925), All Wet (1925), New Toys (1924), The Egotist (1922), Face Value (1921), and Welcome to Our City (1919). In 1926 she played "Poppy" in the smash hit and controversial play The Shanghai Gesture, in which Florence Reed played her mother (known as "Mother Goddam"). Reed's character kills her daughter in a startling end to the play. This play was turned into a very sanitized film in 1941 with Gene Tierney. Duncan also starred in the 1930 film City Girl by director F.W. Murnau. After that, her career hit a lull. An article by Florabel Muir in the New York Daily News in 1931 began: "Mary Duncan was in Hollywood nearly all of last year looking for work with little or no luck. She even altered her appearance by having things done to her nose, but still the producers wouldn't give her a tumble."