Hubbry Logo
Norma MitchellNorma MitchellMain
Open search
Norma Mitchell
Community hub
Norma Mitchell
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Norma Mitchell
Norma Mitchell
Norma Mitchell
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Norma Stafford Mitchell (May 8, 1884 – May 29, 1967) was an American actress and writer.

Key Information

Early life

[edit]

Mitchell was born in Eastham, Massachusetts, the daughter of George William Mitchell and Mary Louisa Horton Mitchell. Her father was a mining engineer.[1]

Career

[edit]

Mitchell appeared in Broadway comedies, including The Call of the Cricket (1910), The Truth Wagon (1912),[2][3] Her Husband's Wife (1917),[4] March Hares (1921), To the Ladies (1922), The Goldfish (1922), Why Not? (1922), The New Poor (1924), and Dancing Mothers (1924). She also acted in the films The Woman Accused (1933),[5] Melody in Spring (1934), and Susan and God (1940).[1]

Mitchell wrote Cradle Snatchers (1925) with Russell G. Medcraft,[6] a comedy starring Mary Boland, Edna May Oliver, and a young Humphrey Bogart;[7] it was adapted for the screen three times, as Cradle Snatchers (1927), as Why Leave Home? (1929), and as Cole Porter's musical Let's Face It (1943).[8][9] Mitchell and Medcraft collaborated again in writing Buy, Buy, Baby (1926).[10] Mitchell also wrote a sketch, "Her Morning Bath", made popular in 1926 by vaudeville star Charlotte Greenwood.[11][12]

Mitchell and her second husband cowrote the plays Any Woman (1934)[13] and Post Road (1934–1935),[14][15] "a stubborn but not untalented play that refuses to make its peace with the theatre", according to critic Brooks Atkinson.[16] Post Road was adapted for television in 1952 for Robert Montgomery Presents, and again in 1956 for Encounter. Her final play on Broadway was Autumn Hill (1942), written with John Harris.[17]

Personal life

[edit]

Mitchell married twice.[18] Her first husband was journalist and playwright Hayden Talbot, father of editor Betsy Blackwell; they married in 1913 and divorced in 1921.[19] Her second husband was writer Wilbur Daniel Steele;[20] they married in 1932, in London.[21] Steele survived her when she died in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1967, aged 83 years.[1]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Norma Mitchell

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Norma Mitchell is an American actress and playwright known for her early 20th-century Broadway career and her co-authorship of the successful comedy Cradle Snatchers with Russell G. Medcraft, which enjoyed multiple film adaptations. Born on May 8, 1884, in Boston, Massachusetts, Mitchell established herself as a stage actress, performing in nine Broadway comedies between 1910 and 1924. She later shifted focus to playwriting, authoring several farces during the 1920s and collaborating on works with her husband, the short-story writer Wilbur Daniel Steele—notably co-authoring Post Road with him. Her most prominent contribution to theater came with Cradle Snatchers, a 1925 Broadway production that proved enduringly popular and served as the basis for the films The Cradle Snatchers (1927), Why Leave Home? (1929), and Let's Face It (1943), as well as television adaptations. Mitchell also co-wrote the play Post Road with Steele, which premiered on Broadway in 1934. In addition to her stage work, Mitchell appeared in several Hollywood films, including The Woman Accused (1933) as Martha, Melody in Spring (1934) as Mrs. Shorter, and Susan and God (1940) as Hazel Paige. Her career bridged the worlds of live theater and early sound cinema, reflecting the versatile talents of a performer-turned-writer in an evolving entertainment industry. She died on May 29, 1967, in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Early life

Family background and childhood

Norma Mitchell was born on May 8, 1884, in Eastham, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of George William Mitchell, a mining engineer, and Mary Louisa Horton Mitchell. No additional verified details about her childhood or early family life are available from primary sources.

Theatrical career

Broadway acting

Norma Mitchell established herself as a Broadway actress during the early 20th century, appearing in nine comedy productions between 1910 and 1924. Her stage career began with The Call of the Cricket in 1910, followed by The Truth Wagon in 1912 and Her Husband's Wife in 1917. In the 1920s she continued performing in March Hares (1921), To the Ladies (1922), The Goldfish (1922), Why Not? (1922), The New Poor (1924), and Dancing Mothers (1924). These appearances formed the primary phase of her work as a stage performer before she shifted her focus to playwriting in the mid-1920s.

Playwriting and major works

Norma Mitchell established herself as a playwright in the 1920s with a series of farces co-authored with Russell G. Medcraft. Her most commercially successful work was Cradle Snatchers, a comedy farce that opened on Broadway on September 7, 1925, and ran for 478 performances until October 1926. This long run at the Music Box Theatre marked it as a popular hit of the era. In 1926, Mitchell and Medcraft collaborated again on Buy, Buy, Baby, which also premiered on Broadway. Around the same time, her sketch Her Morning Bath gained popularity through vaudeville performances. In the 1930s, Mitchell began collaborating with Wilbur Daniel Steele on new works. They co-wrote Any Woman in 1934, a marital farce centered on divorce themes. That same year, the pair completed Post Road, a mystery comedy that opened on Broadway in December 1934 and continued into 1935. Their partnership produced these notable stage pieces during the decade. Mitchell's final Broadway playwriting credit came in 1942 with Autumn Hill, co-authored with John Harris. Her play Cradle Snatchers received several film adaptations.

Screen career

Film acting roles

Norma Mitchell's acting appearances in feature films were brief and secondary to her long-established career in theater. She received credited supporting roles in three films between 1933 and 1940. Her screen debut came in the Paramount Pictures drama The Woman Accused (1933), where she portrayed Martha. The following year, she appeared as Mrs. Shorter in the musical comedy Melody in Spring (1934). Mitchell's final on-screen role was as Hazel Paige in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer comedy-drama Susan and God (1940). These isolated film credits marked a minor phase in her professional life, as her primary recognition stemmed from her extensive work on stage.

Adaptations and writing credits

Several of Norma Mitchell's stage plays were adapted for the screen, extending the reach of her comedic and dramatic writing beyond Broadway. Cradle Snatchers, co-authored with Russell Medcraft in 1925, was adapted into the 1927 silent film The Cradle Snatchers, directed by Howard Hawks. It was remade as the sound film Why Leave Home? in 1929. The play's premise later served as the source material for the 1941 Broadway musical Let's Face It!, featuring music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields, which was in turn adapted into the 1943 Paramount film Let's Face It starring Bob Hope. Post Road, co-written with Wilbur Daniel Steele in 1934, saw television adaptations including an episode titled "The Post Road" on Robert Montgomery Presents in 1952. The play was also adapted on the anthology series Encounter in 1956. Mitchell received writing credits for these television adaptations in recognition of her original authorship, though she did not have extensive direct screenwriting credits beyond source contributions.

Personal life

Marriages

Norma Mitchell was married twice. Her first marriage was to Hayden Talbot, a journalist and playwright, in June 1913. They divorced in 1921. Her second marriage was to short story writer Wilbur Daniel Steele in January 1932 in London. Steele survived her. She later collaborated professionally with Steele on several plays.

Death

Later years and passing

In her later years, Norma Mitchell resided in Old Lyme, Connecticut, with her husband Wilbur Daniel Steele, following his retirement there in 1956. She died on May 29, 1967, in Greenwich, Connecticut, at the age of 83. She was survived by her husband Wilbur Daniel Steele.
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.