Jane Corcoran (August 13, 1881 – August 27, 1961) was an American stage actress.

Jane Corcoran
BornAugust 13, 1881
San Francisco, California
DiedAugust 27, 1961
San Francisco, California
Other namesJane C. Baxter
OccupationActress

Early life edit

 
Estha Williams and her daughter Jane Corcoran in "At the Old Crossroads". Dated June 1911.

Jane Eleanor Corcoran was born in San Francisco, the daughter of actress Estha (or Esta) Williams[1] and Joseph T. Corcoran, and stepdaughter of director Arthur Clifford Aiston, who was also her manager.[2][3] She began acting as a child. She attended the Institute of Holy Angels in Fort Lee, New Jersey, for her schooling.[4]

Career edit

Broadway appearances by Corcoran included roles in A Stranger in a Strange Land (1899),[5] All for a Girl (1908), Mother (1910),[6] A Rich Man's Son (1912), Life (1914),[7] Drifting (1922), The World We Live In (1922),[8] Kitty's Kisses (1926), Street Scene (1929), Little Orchid Annie (1930), Little Women (1931), A Night of Barrie (1932), A Saturday Night (1933), A Party (1933), and While Parents Sleep (1934). Other stage credits, often in touring productions, included roles in Tennessee's Pardner, Mlle Fifi, At the Old Cross Roads,[9] Pretty Peggy,[10] The Freedom of Suzanne,[11] The Man of the Hour, Divorçons, A Doll's House,[12] and A Gentleman from Mississippi.[4]

Corcoran appeared in a short silent film, Mother (1914), adapted from the Broadway show. She also had uncredited small parts in two later films, Fritz Lang's Fury (1936) and John Cromwell's Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940).

Personal life edit

Corcoran married Brooklyn businessman and theatrical producer J. Emmett Baxter in 1902.[3] She was widowed when Baxter died in 1920.[13][14] She lived with her mother and a nurse in Los Angeles in 1940.[15] She died in Philadelphia at the Greystone Nursing Home on Aug 27, 1961, aged 80 years. She was buried at Westminster Cemetery.[16]

References edit

  1. ^ "Mrs. Estha Williams Aiston". The Los Angeles Times. 1941-07-24. p. 25. Retrieved 2020-09-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "This Week's Attractions at the Becker Theatre". The Shawnee Daily Herald. 1906-12-09. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-08-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "Actress to be Married to Young Brooklynite". The Evening World. 1902-06-27. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-08-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Briscoe, Johnson (1909). The Actors' Birthday Book: Third Series. An Authoritative Insight Into the Lives of the Men and Women of the Stage Born Between January First and December Thirty-first. Moffat, Yard. p. 190.
  5. ^ "The Grand's Program". Sacramento Union. April 18, 1909. p. 30. Retrieved August 27, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  6. ^ Eberle, Frank; Denmark, Harry Van (October 1911). "Plays and Players". The Texas Magazine. 4: 52.
  7. ^ "Manhattan Opera House". The Theatre Magazine. 20: 306. December 1914.
  8. ^ Thorold, W. J.; Hornblow Jr., Arthur; Perriton, Maxwell; Beach, Stewart (January 1923). "The World We Live in". The Theatre Magazine. 37: 23.
  9. ^ "Jane Corcoran Will Play Here Saturday". Chico Record. December 1, 1904. p. 4. Retrieved August 27, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  10. ^ "Jane Corcoran 'Pretty Peggy' at Opera House". Morning Press. November 15, 1904. p. 5. Retrieved August 27, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  11. ^ "Jane Corcoran: How a Seattle News Critic Sized Up Her and Her Company". The Anthony Bulletin. 1906-11-23. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Miss Jane Corcoran in 'A Doll's House' -- Best Attraction of the Year". The Horton Headlight-Commercial. 1907-12-26. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-08-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Baxter". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1920-10-07. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-08-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "J. Emmett Baxter". Asbury Park Press. 1920-10-07. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-08-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Jane Baxter from Councilmanic District 3 Los Angeles in 1940 Census District 60-187". Archives.com. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  16. ^ Death Certificate

External links edit