Frank Keenan (born James Francis Keenan;[1] April 8, 1858 – February 24, 1929) was an American stage and film actor and stage director and manager during the silent-film era. He was among the first stage actors to star in Hollywood, and he pursued work in film features for a number of years.
Poster for Keenan's performance of A Poor Relation (1900)Blanche Bates and Keenan in the original Broadway production of The Girl of the Golden West (1905)Advertisement (1919)
In New York, he became a star, a celebrated Shakespearean actor who later specialized in King Lear. He was a noted Broadway matinee idol, and his name appeared at the top of showbills. He acted in such hits as The Capitol,A Poor Relation and The Girl of the Golden West. He played the title role in Macbeth opposite Nance O'Neil. At one point, he briefly operated his own theater, the Berkeley Lyceum in New York, which brought him recognition as both actor and director.[3]
Keenan made his screen debut under the direction of Reginald Barker in The Coward (1915). His career lasted into his late 60s, and he was a leader in the Actors' Equity Association. His last stage appearance, at 68, was as a Southern colonel in Black Velvet.[2]
Family
Keenan was married for many years to Katherine Agnes Long, who often acted with him. The Keenans had two daughters, Frances and Hilda, both of whom were stage and film actresses.[4] His wife Katherine died in 1924; the same year, he married a young music teacher, Margaret White, from Los Angeles, but divorced her in 1927. By October 1928, at age 70, Frank Keenan remarried again, to a 41-year-old actress, Leah May from Atlanta, Georgia. By daughter Hilda he was the grandfather of actor Keenan Wynn and, in turn, the great-grandfather of actor and writer Ned Wynn (born Edmond Keenan Wynn) and multiple Emmy Award winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn. He is also the great-great-grandfather of actress Jessica Keenan Wynn.
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