Katharine Cornell American stage actress, writer, theater founder and producer Date of Birth: 16.02.1893 Country: USA

1. Biography of Katherine Cornell
2. Early Life
3. Early Career
4. Professional Success
5. Notable Roles and Legacy
6. Later Life and Death

Biography of Katherine Cornell

Katherine Cornell, an American theater actress, writer, theater founder, and producer, is known as one of the greatest theater actresses of the 20th century. She earned the nickname "First Lady of the Theatre," which was later used to refer to her friend Helen Hayes. Interestingly, both actresses always objected to being called the "First Ladies of American Theatre." However, Cornell's contribution to the acting profession and American theater is unparalleled. She played numerous leading roles on Broadway in serious dramas, often directed by her husband Guthrie McClintic. Together, they founded a production company that provided them with complete creative freedom. Their company helped many great masters of the 20th century to secure their first or prominent role on Broadway, including many great British Shakespearean actors. Additionally, Cornell's outstanding performances helped popularize authors such as George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare, whose works were not frequently seen on stage before.

Early Life

Katherine Cornell was born on February 16, 1898, in Berlin, Germany, to a wealthy and well-known American family. She grew up in Buffalo, New York. Her grandfather, Samuel Garretson Cornell, moved to Buffalo in the 1850s and founded the company "Cornell Lead Works." One of Samuel's sons, Peter, married Alice Gardner Plimpton, who gave birth to their daughter Katherine in Germany while Peter was studying medicine at the University of Berlin. After six months, the family returned to Buffalo. In her childhood, Cornell wasn't particularly attractive in appearance, and she was even nicknamed Kit because she resembled a boy. Her relationship with her parents was not pleasant, especially due to her mother's alcoholism. She later admitted to having an unhappy childhood.

Early Career

Cornell played in the yard with imaginary friends. Since the whole family loved going to shows and her father was an amateur director, Katherine soon immersed herself in the acting profession. Her father even gave up medicine to focus entirely on the Star Theater and later the Majestic Theater. She participated in talent contests, performed in school plays, and worked at the Buffalo Studio Club, a small theater. Cornell also found time to engage in athletics, securing second place in the city tennis championship and competing in amateur swimming championships. She attended the University of Buffalo.

Professional Success

In 1915, Cornell's mother passed away, leaving her enough money to live independently, and she left her hometown. In New York, Katherine joined the theater company "Washington Square Players" and was recognized as one of the most promising actresses of the season. Two seasons later, she began working with the leading theater company "Jessie Bonstelle Company," which traveled between Detroit and Buffalo during the summer months. Cornell earned her first role on Broadway in 1921, in the play "A Bill of Divorcement." She performed in 173 shows, which was enough to consider "A Bill of Divorcement" a true hit. After that, Cornell revived many plays that had been unjustly forgotten. She married Guthrie McClintic on September 8, 1921, at her aunt's summer home in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. The Cornell family often spent summers there, socializing with other wealthy Americans. However, it is known that Katherine was a lesbian and Guthrie was gay, and their marriage was a sham. McClintic passed away on October 29, 1961, from pulmonary hemorrhage, shortly after celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.

Notable Roles and Legacy

Perhaps Cornell's most famous role was that of English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning in the Broadway play "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" in 1931. Among her other notable Broadway performances were "The Letter" by W. Somerset Maugham, "The Alien Corn" by Sidney Howard, "No Time for Comedy" by S. N. Behrman, and the revival of "The Constant Wife" by Maugham. As an actress, Cornell was primarily seen through the lens of tragedy. Her perfected romantic intuition was admirable. She rarely appeared in comedies, captivating audiences more with her warmth than her wit. When Cornell appeared in "The Constant Wife," critic Brooks Atkinson remarked that she transformed a "stern comedy with a metallic taste" into a romantic drama. Throughout her career, Katherine only appeared on the big screen once, playing herself in the war musical "Stage Door Canteen" in 1943.

Later Life and Death

Cornell passed away from pneumonia on June 9, 1974, in Tisbury, Massachusetts, at the age of 81.