Frankie Mann (actress)

Frankie Mann
A young white woman with curly bobbed hair, one hand behind her neck, one on her chest
Frankie Mann, from a 1919 magazine
Born
Frances Hampton Mann

(1892-06-13)June 13, 1892
Mill Hall, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedJune 23, 1969(1969-06-23) (aged 77)
New York City, U.S.
Other namesFrances H. Johnson
OccupationActress
Spouse(s)Donald Hall (actor), Gardiner P. Johnson
RelativesAlice Mann (sister)

Frances "Frankie" Mann (June 13, 1892[1] – June 23, 1969) was an American actress, who appeared in over forty silent films between 1913 and 1925.

Early life

Frances Hampton Mann was born in Mill Hall, Pennsylvania,[2] and raised in Massachusetts, the daughter of Robert Mann Jr. and Alice Eloise Mann. Her grandfather, Robert Mann Sr., founded an axe company, the Mann Edge Tool Company.[3] Her father, a financier, lost his fortune in the economic Panic of 1907, and died in 1910.[4][5]

Advertising campaign for Trailed by Three (1920), featuring Stuart Holmes and Frankie Mann
Advertising campaign for Trailed by Three (1920), featuring Stuart Holmes and Frankie Mann

Career

Mann was an actress and appeared in over forty silent films made between 1913 and 1925, with various studios. She was often cast as a "vamp", or temptress character.[2][4] "Time after time she turned to the camera to register a vampire's sneery smile, and believe me this was awful," reported one reviewer in 1916. "Once or twice would have been enough to have 'queered' her, but she did it all through the film."[6]

Among Mann's film credits were roles in The Battle of Shiloh (1913), Through Fire to Fortune (1914), The Wolf (1914), The House Next Door (1914),[7] The Road o' Strife (1915), The Sporting Duchess (1915), Anselo Lee (1915), The Climbers (1915),[8] The Great Ruby (1915),[9] The Shielding Shadow (1916), Her Surrender (1916),[10] The Sex Lure (1916),[11] The Girl Who Did Not Care (1917),[12] Fortune's Child (1919), The Root of Evil (1919), Fruits of Passion (1919), Trailed by Three (1920),[13] The Place of Honeymoons (1920), The Passionate Pilgrim (1921),[14] Shadows of the Sea (1922), Unconquered Woman (1922), John Smith (1922), On Time (1924),[15] The Fortieth Door (1924), and Barriers Burned Away (1925).[16] Mann also had a stage career, mainly in Philadelphia.

Personal life

Mann married British actor Donald Hall in 1915. She married Gardiner P. Johnson in the 1923, and had two children. She died in 1969, aged 77 years, in Florida.[17]

References

  1. ^ Many sources, such as IMDB, give July 3, 1892 as her birthdate. Her Social Security application (on Ancestry) gives June 13, 1892 instead.
  2. ^ a b "Frankie Mann, Movie Star, Receives Fans at Strand". Altoona Tribune. 1917-02-15. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-04-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ The Autobiography of Robert Mann (Lippincott 1897).
  4. ^ a b "Frankie Mann, the New Ivan Vampire". The Moving Picture World. 30: 252. October 14, 1916.
  5. ^ "Frankie Mann is Impressive". Motography. 15: 364. February 12, 1916 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ "Overacting and Impossible Plot Make Beauty Spots Useless". Wid's: 1056. October 26, 1916 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ "Lubin Films 'The House Next Door' Has Strong Theme". Motography. 12: 325. September 5, 1914 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ "The Grand". Lancaster New Era. 1915-08-12. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-04-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "The Great Ruby". The Photo-Play Review: 17. September 18, 1915 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ "Her Surrender". Motography: 835–836. October 7, 1916 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ^ De Grazia, Edward (1982). Banned films : movies, censors, and the First Amendment. Internet Archive. New York : Bowker. pp. 191–192. ISBN 978-0-8352-1509-1.
  12. ^ "Unusual Theme in Gayety Film". The Muscatine Journal. 1917-05-11. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-04-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Frankie Mann is Shoe Fan". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1920-05-08. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-04-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "At the Strand". The Times-Tribune. 1921-05-28. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-04-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Lentz, Harris M. (1983). Science fiction, horror & fantasy film and television credits : over 10,000 actors, actresses, directors ... Internet Archive. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland. p. 1020. ISBN 978-0-89950-071-3.
  16. ^ "Barriers Burned Away". Photoplay. 27: 121. February 27, 1925 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ "Index", Managing Operations, Elsevier, pp. 219–224, 1998, retrieved 2023-08-30