Cecil Cunningham

Cecil Cunningham
Edna Cecil Cunningham (August 2, 1888 – April 17, 1959) was an American film and stage actress, singer, and comedienne.
Early years
Cunningham's early experience in music came as a member of the choir in the Fifth Baptist Church in St. Louis.
Career
Cunningham's first show business job was in the chorus line of Mlle. Modiste at the age of 18. She trained as a singer and appeared in opera. She worked as a vaudeville comedian at the Palace Theatre in New York City until the commencement of her movie career in 1929.
Cunningham's Broadway credits include Somewhere Else (1913), Iolanthe (1913), Oh, I Say! (1913), Maids of Athens (1914), Dancing Around (1914), Greenwich Village Follies (1919), The Rose of China (1919), and Dance With Your Gods (1934). She also performed in Paris with the Boston Grand Opera Company, singing in Italian operas.
Cunningham was a Hollywood character actress with whitish hair cut like a man's, often in roles as a general "know-it-all". She made more than 80 appearances in movies between 1929 and 1946, many of them uncredited.
Personal life
Cunningham was married to writer Jean C. Havez from 1915 to 1917.
Death
On April 17, 1959, Cunningham died of heart disease at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was 70 years old. Her remains are interred in Chapel of the Pines Crematory.
Complete filmography
Their Own Desire (1929) - Aunt Caroline
Paramount on Parade (1930) - Society Woman (Impulses) (uncredited)
Anybody's Woman (1930) - Dot
Playboy of Paris (1930) - Mlle. Hedwige
Trouble from Abroad (1931, Short) - Emma Wimple
Monkey Business (1931) - Madame Swempski (uncredited)
Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931) - Madame Panoramia aka Pansy
The Age for Love (1931) - Pamela
Safe in Hell (1931) - Angie
Mata Hari (1931) - Gambler Selling Ring (uncredited)
Never the Twins Shall Meet (1932, Short) - Mrs. Carp
Impatient Maiden (1932) - Mrs. Rosy
The Wet Parade (1932) - Mrs. Twombey - Hotel Guest (uncredited)
It's Tough to Be Famous (1932) - Autograph Seeker with Sheet Music (uncredited)
Just a Pain in the Parlor (1932, Short) - Mrs. Smith
The Rich Are Always with Us (1932) - Woman Talking to Tierney at Party (uncredited)
Love Is a Racket (1932) - Aunt Hattie Donovan
Is My Face Red? (1932) - Millionaire's Blonde Wife (uncredited)
The Candid Camera (1932, Short) - Mrs. Townes' Aunty
Love Me Tonight (1932) - Laundress (uncredited)
Those We Love (1932) - Mrs. Henry Abbott
Blonde Venus (1932) - Norfolk Woman Manager (uncredited)
If I Had a Million (1932) - Agnes - Emily's Friend (uncredited)
Ladies They Talk About (1933) - Mrs. Arlington (uncredited)
From Hell to Heaven (1933) - Mrs. Chadman
The Druggist's Dilemma (1933, Short) - Mrs. Finch
Bottoms Up (1934) - Party Guest (uncredited)
Manhattan Love Song (1934) - Pancake Annie Jones
The Life of Vergie Winters (1934) - Pearl Turner
Return of the Terror (1934) - Miss Doolittle
We Live Again (1934) - Theodosia (uncredited)
People Will Talk (1935) - Nellie Simpson
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) - Minor Role (uncredited)
Come and Get It (1936) - Josie
Swing High, Swing Low (1937) - Murphy
King of Gamblers (1937) - Big Edna
Artists and Models (1937) - Stella
This Way Please (1937) - Miss Eberhardt
The Awful Truth (1937) - Mrs. Alvin
Daughter of Shanghai (1937) - Mrs. Mary Hunt
Scandal Street (1938) - Maybelle Murphy
Four Men and a Prayer (1938) - Piper
College Swing (1938) - Dean Sleet
Kentucky Moonshine (1938) - Landlady
You and Me (1938) - Mrs. Morris
Wives Under Suspicion (1938) - 'Sharpy'
Blond Cheat (1938) - Genevieve Trent
Marie Antoinette (1938) - Mme. 'Feldy' de Lerchenfeld (uncredited)
Girls' School (1938) - Miss Brewster
The Family Next Door (1939) - Cora Stewart
It's a Wonderful World (1939) - Madame J.L. Chambers
Winter Carnival (1939) - Miss Ainsley
Lady of the Tropics (1939) - Countess Berichi
Laugh It Off (1939) - Tess Gibson
Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) - Minor Role (uncredited)
Lillian Russell (1940) - Mrs. Hobbs
The Captain Is a Lady (1940) - Mrs. Jane Homans
New Moon (1940) - Governor's Wife
Kitty Foyle (1940) - Grandmother
Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941) - Frosty's Landlady (uncredited)
Play Girl (1941) - Dowager (uncredited)
Back Street (1941) - Mrs. Miller
Repent at Leisure (1941) - Mrs. Morgan
Hurry, Charlie, Hurry (1941) - Mrs. Diana Boone
Blossoms in the Dust (1941) - Mrs. Gilworth
The Feminine Touch (1941) - Party Guest (uncredited)
Cowboy Serenade (1942) - Priscilla Smythe
The Wife Takes a Flyer (1942) - Countess Oldenburg
Twin Beds (1942) - Miss MacMahon, Secretary (uncredited)
Are Husbands Necessary? (1942) - Miss Jenkins
The Affairs of Martha (1942) - Mrs. Llewellyn Castle
I Married an Angel (1942) - Mrs. Fairmind (uncredited)
Cairo (1942) - Mme. Laruga
The Hidden Hand (1942) - Lorinda Channing
My Heart Belongs to Daddy (1942) - Mrs. Whitman (uncredited)
Above Suspicion (1943) - Countess
In Old Oklahoma (1943) - Mrs. Ames
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) - Judge Cavendish (scenes deleted)
Wonder Man (1945) - Fortune Teller (uncredited)
My Reputation (1946) - Mrs. Stella Thompson
The Bride Goes Wild (1948) - Helen Oldfield (scenes deleted)
Joyful Hour (1960, TV movie) - Elizabeth
References
External links
1888 births
1959 deaths
American film actresses
American stage actresses
Burials at Chapel of the Pines Crematory
Actresses from St. Louis
20th-century American actresses
Baptists from Missouri