Louise Closser Hale

Louise Closser Hale was an American actress who also wrote plays and books. After training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Boston School of Oratory, she made her theatrical debut in Detroit in 1894 in In Old Kentucky and toured with Midwestern companies. She reached Broadway in Arizona in 1900 and found her first stage success in a 1903 production of George Bernard Shaw's Candida. In 1907 she appeared in London in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. Hale entered films in 1929 with The Hole in the Wall, then repeated her stage role as Cora Sabbot in the screen version of Paris. Over four years in Hollywood she worked for several studios, performed in 30 films, and often played mothers and grandmothers. She also published short stories and books, reported for Harper's Magazine during World War I, and served as an associate editor at The Smart Set.