Janet Beecher

Janet Beecher

Birth : 1884-10-21, Jefferson City, Missouri, USA

Death : 1955-08-06

History

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Janet Beecher (October 21, 1884 – August 6, 1955) was an American stage and screen actress. Beecher was a supporting player and lead on the Broadway stage between the 1900s and 1940s. Her Broadway debut came in The Education of Mr. Pipp (1905). Her final Broadway play was The Late George Apley (1944). Between 1915 and 1943, she appeared in about fifty motion pictures. She remains perhaps best-remembered as a character actress during Hollywood's golden age, often seen in roles as "firm but compassionate matriarchs". She was known for her roles as Ginger Rogers' mother in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Tyrone Power's mother in the adventure film The Mark of Zorro (1940), and Henry Fonda's mother in Preston Sturges' screwball comedy The Lady Eve (1941). She retired from film business in 1943, but managed to play a role in the television series Lux Video Theatre in 1952.

Profile

Janet Beecher

Movies

Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour
Eloise Lowry
Teenager Henry Aldrich becomes a hometown celebrity when he wins a date with a sexy movie star. The sixth entry in the "Henry Aldrich" series of eleven films.
Silver Queen
Mrs. Laura Forsythe
A beautiful heiress is an excellent poker player. Her comfortable life changes when her father and his fortune die during market crash of the 1800's.
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Mrs. Olcott
In the shanty town called the Cabbage Patch, Mrs. Wiggs scrabbles for survival with her brood of children and hopes for the return of her husband, who left many years before.
A Letter From Bataan
A soldier pleads to the folks to home to conserve scarce wartime resources.
Hi, Neighbor
Hattie Greenfield
A financially strapped college is transformed into a summer holiday resort with the help of music and radio stars.
Men of Texas
Mrs. Sam Houston
A Chicago reporter (Robert Stack) and photographer focus on a Confederate outlaw (Brod Crawford) in post-Civil War Texas.
Reap the Wild Wind
Mrs. Mottram
The Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the salvagers of Key West, like the intrepid and beautiful Loxi Claiborne and her crew, reap, aboard frail schooners, the harvest of the wild wind, facing the shark teeth of the reefs to rescue the sailors and the cargo from the shipwrecks caused by the scavengers of the sea.
The Parson of Panamint
Mrs. Tweedy
As he looks over the dusty, deserted remains of the western "boom town" of Panamint, grizzled old prospector Chuckawalla Bill Redfield (Ruggles) recalls the town's glory days. Looming large in Chuckawalla's reminiscences is the day that young and apparently mild-mannerd minister Philip Pharo (Phillip Terry) rode into town. In his own gentle but forceful fashion, Pharo managed to bring the town's lawless element into line, mollify the local bluenoses, and win the heart of likeable dance-hall girl Mary Mallory (Ellen Drew).
A Very Young Lady
Miss Steele
A tomboy is sent to a private school to become a refined young woman, but her innocent crush on the headmaster leads to serious complications.
West Point Widow
Mrs. Graves
In this romance, a hospital nurse marries a West Point football hero. She soon gets pregnant, but this doesn't stop her from annulling the marriage so as not to interfere with her husband's military career.
For Beauty's Sake
Miss Merton
A woman-hater who inherits a beauty salon gets a new perspective on females after capturing a gang of thieves.
The Man Who Lost Himself
Mrs. Milford
John Evans encounters his lookalike, Malcolm Scott. When Scott is killed in an accident, Evans finds himself mistaken for Scott and decides to do some good in his new role.
The Lady Eve
Janet Pike
It's no accident when wealthy Charles falls for Jean. Jean is a con artist with her sights set on Charles' fortune. Matters complicate when Jean starts falling for her mark. When Charles suspects Jean is a gold digger, he dumps her. Jean, fixated on revenge and still pining for the millionaire, devises a plan to get back in Charles' life. With love and payback on her mind, she re-introduces herself to Charles, this time as an aristocrat named Lady Eve Sidwich.
The Mark of Zorro
Senora Isabella Vega
Around 1820 the son of a California nobleman comes home from Spain to find his native land under a villainous dictatorship. On the one hand he plays the useless fop, while on the other he is the masked avenger Zorro.
Bitter Sweet
Lady Daventry
In order to avoid an arranged marriage with a man she doesn't love, Sarah Millick runs off to Vienna with her music teacher, Carl Linden, whom she does love. They are married. In Vienna, they struggle to make a living by making music. Carl writes an operetta and tries to get it produced. They are helped along by Viennese Baron, but his intentions are not honorable. He kills Carl in a sword fight. A big producer does put on the operetta, with Sari in the lead -- but without her husband, it is a bittersweet victory.
The Gay Caballero
Kate Brewster
The Cisco Kid and his buddy Gordito arrive in town and learn that Cisco is supposedly dead. Not only that: Before his death, he is believed to have attempted to steal Susan Wetherby's land.
All This, and Heaven Too
Miss Haines
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess. Meanwhile, the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow, eventually leading to tragedy.
Slightly Honorable
Mrs. Cushing
A lawyer is framed for the murder of a young party girl and tries to clear his name.
Laugh It Off
Mary Carter
Four former actresses decide to restart their careers by opening up a nightclub.
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1
The four Westmore brothers work their make-up magic on a variety of Hollywood stars.
Career
Amy Cruthers
Set in a tiny midwestern town, this sentimental drama centers on the rivalry between two life-long acquaintances whose early friendship falls apart when they woo the same woman.
Land of Liberty
(archive footage)
This film tells the history of the United States from pre-Revolution through 1939.
Man of Conquest
Mrs. Sarah Lea
The story of Sam Houston, hero of the Texas revolution, statesman, and first president of the Republic of Texas.
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
Mrs. Foote
In 1911, minor stage comic, Vernon Castle meets the stage-struck Irene Foote. A few misadventures later, they marry and then abandon comedy to attempt a dancing career together. While they're performing in Paris, an agent sees them rehearse and starts them on their brilliant career as the world's foremost ballroom dancers. However, at the height of their fame, World War I begins.
I Was a Convict
Mrs. Martha Harrison
In this crime drama a wealthy business tycoon serves a sentence for tax fraud. While there he becomes good friends with his cellmates and after they are all released, the magnate appoints them both as executives in his company.
Say It in French
Mrs. Laura Carrington
An American golf pro falls in love with a woman while visiting France; before long they are married and in the US. Upon their arrival, they are dismayed to discover that the golfer's parents have arranged for him to marry a wealthy socialite so they can use her money to support their business....
Woman Against Woman
Mrs. Holland
A newlywed unhappily discovers that her husband's scheming ex-wife still has a controlling influence in his life and home.
Yellow Jack
Miss Macdade
A fairly accurate historical account of Walter Reed's search for the cause of "Yellow Jack" or Yellow Fever and those who risked their lives in the pursuit.
Judge Hardy's Children
Miss Budge
Judge Hardy takes a business trip to Washington, DC, where Andy promptly falls for the French ambassador's daughter.
Rosalie
Miss Baker
West Point cadet Dick Thorpe falls in love with a girl, who turns out to be a princess from an European kingdom.
Beg, Borrow or Steal
Mrs. Agatha Steward
We find con-man Ingraham Steward living by his wits by steering wealthy Paris visitors to sellers of fake paintings and other assorted dodges. He and his wife, Agatha, have been separated for 15 years, but he promises to give their daughter, Joyce, a lavish wedding at his "château" in France. The fact that he doesn't have a château in France is just a minor trifle. He induces the caretaker, Bill Cherau, of a large country estate to allow it to be used for the wedding. The wedding party arrives and Bill falls madly in love with Joyce and she with him, but a gal has gotta do what a gal has gotta do, and her intended marriage to stuffed-shirt Horace Miller stays on the books. But Steward has a change of heart and he tells one and all that he and his friends, Von Gersdorff, Lefevre, Iznamof, Clifton Summitt and Sasch, are all frauds and crooks. Horace and his family stalk out, which is just fine with Joyce as her true love, the caretaker, is waiting on the grounds.
Give Till It Hurts
Cathy Gaffney
This entry in the Crime Does Not Pay series focuses on charity fraud. Two scam artists set themselves up as 'philanthropists' to help raise money for a local clinic, but the funds they raise never get to help the people who need it.
My Dear Miss Aldrich
Mrs. Sinclair
A young woman inherits a newspaper whose editor refuses to hire lady reporters.
Big City
Sophie Sloane
Anna and Joe are newly married, playful and deeply in love. Joe is scraping by as cab driver in New York City during a period of corruption, mob control and violence between cab companies.
Between Two Women
Miss Pringle
Allen Meighan, an intern, assures himself residency at 'General Hospital', when he saves the life of a man trapped in an explosion. Allen is in love with student nurse, Claire Donahue, and she with him, but, she is married to Tom a physically abusive husband.
The Thirteenth Chair
Lady Alissia Crosby
A phony psychic tries to solve a murder that took place during her seance.
The Good Old Soak
Matilda Hawley
A small town drunk beats a teetotal banker guilty of a shady transaction.
The Longest Night
Mrs. Briggs
Love with a clerk and a robbery by gangsters preoccupy a department store's new owner.
I'd Give My Life
Stella Bancroft
The movie, like the play "The Noose" on which it is based, is the story of a young man wrongfully convicted of and sentenced to be hanged for a murder which he never committed.
Love Before Breakfast
Mrs. Colby
Scott is a very rich businessman who hangs out with a snooty, silly Countess, but has the hots for Kay who is already engaged to Bill. Scott pursues Kay like crazy, going so far as to buy Bill's oil company so that he can banish him to Japan, leaving Kay unmoored.
So Red the Rose
Sally Bedford
During the American Civil War, Valette Bedford waits patiently for her husband Duncan Bedford, to return home, praying that she will not become a widow.
The Dark Angel
Mrs. Shannon
Kitty Vane, Alan Trent, and Gerald Shannon have been inseparable friends since childhood. Kitty has always known she would marry one of them, but has waited until the beginning of World War I before finally choosing Alan. Gerald graciously gives them his blessing. Then, Gerald and Alan go to war. Angered over a misunderstanding involving Alan and Kitty, Gerald sends Alan on a dangerous mission that will change all their lives forever.
Village Tale
Amy Somerville
The insidious typical talk of a small town makes a young man and the married woman he is in love very unhappy.
Let's Live Tonight
Nick Kerry (Tullio Carminati) is a rich rounder who holds tremendous fascination over women......mainly because he is rich and has his own yacht. At Monte Carlo one evening he romances Kay Routledge (Lilian Harvey), a romantic young and gullible American girl. She takes the dilettante seriously and when he sails away on his yacht, she is heartbroken. But the memory of her haunts him, and brings him back from India and the arms of another woman,Countess Margot de Legere (Tala Birell),only to find Kay now engaged to his friend. Oh, what's a rich guy to do?
The Mighty Barnum
Nancy Barnum
20th Century Fox's highly fabricated film biography of circus showman P. T. Barnum stars Wallace Beery (as Barnum), Virginia Bruce (as Jenny Lind), Janet Beecher and Adolphe Menjou. Released in 1934.
The President Vanishes
Mrs. Craig
The President Vanishes, released in the United Kingdom as Strange Conspiracy, is a 1934 American political drama film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Walter Wanger. Starring Edward Arnold and Arthur Byron, the film is an adaptation of Rex Stout's political novel of the same name.
The Last Gentleman
Helen Barr, Cabot's daughter
In New England circa 1933, a niece is reported missing and presumed dead and Cabot Barr (George Arliss) summons his relatives to the family estate for a memorial service. Once there, Barr taunts each one, claiming their only interest in him is his money, and sends them away when the report about the niece proves to be false. Only niece Marjorie, who has ridiculed one of his pet eccentricities, seems to be the object of any sentimental affection.
Gallant Lady
Maria Sherwood
Unwed mother gives up baby for adoption and hopes to get it back when the adoptive mother dies.