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Anne Burr
Anne Burr
Anne Burr
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Anne Burr McDermott (born Anne Elizabeth Burr; June 10, 1918 - February 1, 2003) was an American actress who appeared on the stage, and in television, radio, and film in the 1940s and 1950s. She made her Broadway debut in Orson Welles's Native Son in 1941, and appeared with frequency on the New York stage through 1952. She appeared in several minor roles in films, beginning with the parts of Ruth in Child of Divorce (1946) and Judy Clark in The Devil on Wheels (1947). In 1947, she portrayed Viola in the first unabridged televised production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. She became one of the world's first soap opera stars, first appearing in the earliest years of that genre as Dr. Eve Allen, one of the first women doctors portrayed on television, in The Greatest Gift (1954-1955). She was an original cast member of As the World Turns, starring as Claire from 1956 until 1959, when she retired from acting.

Key Information

Early life and education

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Born in Boston on June 10, 1918, Anne Burr was the daughter of Eugene Palmer Burr and Helen Isabel Burr (née Cummings).[1] Her mother was born and raised in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and worked as a registered nurse.[2] Her father was born in Columbus, Ohio, and he graduated from Princeton University in 1901. After working for several businesses in the United States and England, he ultimately became an executive with the Meadow River Lumber Company, where he finished his career.[3]

When Anne was seven years old, the Burr family moved to Hampstead, London. There, she was a student at the Threave House School from 1925 through 1929.[1] The family briefly lived in Columbus, Ohio, and Anne attended the Columbus School for Girls for the 1929-1930 school year.[1] The Burr family then resided in Hartford, Connecticut, where they lived at a house on Prospect Ave.[4] Anne graduated from West Middle School Hartford on June 17, 1931.[5][6] Her parents resided in Hartford until 1948, when they moved to Old Lyme, Connecticut, remaining there for the remainder of their lives.[2][3]

Anne spent her high-school years at Oxford School in Hartford, where she acted in plays staged by the Oxford School Association, beginning with a performance of Mary Gilbertson's adaptation of the French Christmas story The Legend of the Crèche, which was performed in December 1931.[7][8] In 1935, she starred in a production of Clyde Fitch's Beau Brummell at the school,[9] and in the 1935-1936 school year, she was president of Oxford's Paint and Putty Club, the school group responsible for putting on Oxford's plays and providing art opportunities to students.[10] She was one of 16 students who graduated from Oxford on June 5, 1936.[11]

In the autumn of 1936, Burr began her college education at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, where she was a member of the student dramatic association. In her freshman year, she starred in a stage adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's short story "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" (1936).[4] Other plays in which she starred at that school included the role of Jane in a stage adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1937),[12] and Moon Blossom in John Masefield's A King's Daughter (1938).[13] At Sweet Briar she studied drama under professor Cameron King.[14] In 1939, she moved to New York City to pursue further studies in drama.[15]

Career

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Burr began her professional career as an actress as a member of the Farragut Players in Rye Beach, New Hampshire;[15] sje made her debut with the company as Isla in Edgar Wallace's Criminal At Large with Alison Skipworth as Lady Lebanon on July 9, 1940.[16] Later in the season, she portrayed Mrs. Albert Davidson in John Colton and Clemence Randolph's Rain,[17] a work which also starred Burr's future husband, actor Walter Coy,[18] in the role of Reverend Davidson.[19] That season, she also portrayed Meg March in Marian de Forest's stage adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women with Frances Farmer as Jo March.[20] She made her Broadway debut in 1941 in Orson Welles's Native Son.[21] She went on to appear in numerous Broadway productions through the 1940s, including Detective Story and The Hasty Heart.

On radio, she appeared as Regina Rawlings on Backstage Wife from 1948 until 1949, and once her character was written out of the series, she returned again in a similar role as Claudia Vincent. She routinely had roles in such serials as Big Sister, Wendy Warren and the News, and When a Girl Marries. From 1951 until 1958, she was Kate Morrow on the weekly drama City Hospital, reprising the part on the television series from 1952 until 1953. She frequently appeared on Studio One with Fletcher Markle from 1947 until 1948, and from time to time performed parts on other series, such as Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons and Scotland Yard.

On television, Burr was an original cast member on the soap operas The Greatest Gift, where she played Dr. Eve Allen, one of the first female television doctors, and As the World Turns, where she originated the role of Claire English, a role she played from 1956 to 1959.[22] Burr also had roles on The Philco Television Playhouse, Studio One, and Suspense.[23]

Burr was briefly blacklisted during the Red Scare, but was nevertheless able to return to television soon thereafter.

In 1959, following her departure from As the World Turns, she moved to Los Angeles and retired from acting.

Personal life

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In 1939, Burr dated actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr.[24] On March 26, 1942, she married actor Walter Coy at Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan.[18] Their marriage ended in divorce. On June 21, 1953, she married her second husband, Tom McDermott,[25] a principal in Four Star Television, in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Death

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Burr died in Old Lyme in 2003 of respiratory failure;[21] her husband had predeceased her in 1990.[25]

References

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Anne Burr

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Anne Burr (June 10, 1920 – February 1, 2003) was an American actress known for her work in Broadway theatre and early television soap operas during the mid-20th century. She gained recognition for stage performances in the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in productions such as The Hasty Heart and other New York shows, before transitioning to television where she became a familiar presence in daytime serials. Her career spanned live theatre and the emerging medium of television, with notable roles in soap operas including Guiding Light and As the World Turns (as an original cast member). Burr's work reflected the era's shift from stage to screen, contributing to the development of serialized drama formats that became staples of American broadcasting. After being blacklisted during the McCarthy era, she returned to television before retiring from acting in the late 1950s.

Early life

Birth and background

Anne Burr was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She spent her early years in Boston, a major cultural center on the East Coast that offered exposure to theater and the arts from a young age. Details about her parents and family background remain limited in available records, with some sources noting her full name as Anne Burr McDermott later in life but providing no further specifics on childhood family circumstances or origins.

Education and early interests

Anne Burr received her education in Hartford, Connecticut, and at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. Her early interest in acting developed through participation in summer stock theater, where she gained her first stage experience. She also performed in radio roles before transitioning to Broadway. These pre-professional engagements in stock and radio reflected her growing passion for performance.

Career

Broadway and stage career

Anne Burr made her Broadway debut in 1941, portraying Mary Dalton in Orson Welles's production of Native Son. She reprised the role in a return engagement the following year and also appeared as Marjorie Barr in Plan M in 1942. Throughout the early to mid-1940s, Burr maintained a steady presence on Broadway with supporting roles in several plays, including Helen Field in Dark Eyes (1943), Martha Jones in Lovers and Friends (1943), Lady Elizabeth Randall in While the Sun Shines (1944), and Margaret in The Hasty Heart (1945), where she performed opposite Richard Basehart. She continued into the late 1940s with Alex in O'Daniel (1947) and as a replacement cast member playing Mary McLeod in Detective Story (1949). Burr's final Broadway appearance came in 1952, when she played Alma Greich in The Gambler, a short-lived production that ran from October 13 to November 1 at the Lyceum Theatre. Over her eleven-year Broadway tenure from 1941 to 1952, she demonstrated versatility across dramatic and period pieces in the postwar New York theater scene, contributing to both original works and revivals. In the early 1950s, she began transitioning toward television and film roles.

Film career

Anne Burr's film career was relatively brief and consisted primarily of supporting roles in Hollywood productions during the early 1950s, a period when she was transitioning from stage work to other media. Her appearances were typically in supporting or character parts within genre films, including film noir and adventure pictures. In 1950, Burr played Alice Latham in the film noir The Killer That Stalked New York, directed by Earl McEvoy and starring Evelyn Keyes as a woman spreading smallpox across the city. That same year, she portrayed Lois Frazer in the noir thriller The Man Who Cheated Himself, directed by Felix E. Feist and starring Lee J. Cobb and Jane Wyatt. The following year, Burr appeared in Chicago Calling (1951), a low-budget drama directed by John Reinhardt and featuring Dan Duryea as a down-on-his-luck father trying to reach his son. She concluded her known film work with a role in The Golden Hawk (1952), a swashbuckling adventure directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Rhonda Fleming and Sterling Hayden. These roles marked the extent of Burr's motion picture output, as her career increasingly centered on television during the same era.

Television career

Anne Burr established herself in early television during the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in live broadcasts and series at a time when the medium was still developing. She achieved a notable breakthrough with her portrayal of Viola in the first full-length television production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and as Dr. Kate Morrow in the medical drama City Hospital, which aired from 1951 to 1953. Burr also featured in anthology programs such as Tales of Tomorrow and starred as the lead character Eve Allen in the short-lived NBC daytime soap opera The Greatest Gift from 1954 to 1955. After a brief period affected by blacklisting during the McCarthy era, she returned to daytime television as one of its early prominent performers, originating the role of Claire English on As the World Turns from the series' premiere in 1956 until her retirement from acting in 1959. Her work in these serials marked a shift toward sustained roles in the burgeoning genre of daytime soap operas.

Personal life

Marriage and family

Anne Burr married television executive Tom McDermott in 1953. She subsequently used the name Anne Burr McDermott professionally and personally. McDermott, a principal in Four Star Television, predeceased her in 1990. Her personal life remained largely private, with limited public details beyond her marriage.

Later years and death

After retiring from acting in 1959, Anne Burr moved to Los Angeles with her husband, Tom McDermott, a television producer. She made no further professional appearances following the move. Tom McDermott died in 1990. In her later years, Anne Burr McDermott lived near Old Lyme, Connecticut. She died on February 1, 2003, near her home in Old Lyme at the age of 84. Reports indicate the cause of death was respiratory failure. She was survived by her three children—Maggie McDermott-Walsh, Burr McDermott, and Michael McDermott—and five grandchildren. A memorial service was planned for the spring of 2003 in Connecticut.
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