Grace Cunard

I had planned on writing a post on my Evans purchases at last weekend's Cinevent here in Columbus, but one of my finds warrants some attention of its own.  Since one of the focuses of this blog is local history, I thought I might highlight the subject of a postcard I picked up at the convention.  The subject is Columbus native Grace Cunard.

Harriet Jeffries (aka Grace Cunard) was born in Columbus in 1893 to Washington and Lola Jeffries   (studio publicity claimed that she was born in Paris to an American mother and a French father).  Washington doesn't appear to have held down any job for very long and the family was continually moving around, mainly in the area just north of downtown known as the Short North.  Although it is difficult to find much detail about her early life, Harriet took to the stage in 1906, adopting the name for which she would be later known to her film fans.  Her father died in 1910 and her mother was still in Columbus in 1911, but it's unknown exactly when Harriet left town for good.  Her first screen credit is for the 1911 film Before Yorktown.  For the rest of the decade, the rechristened Grace would make dozens of popular films for Universal, mostly of the action variety and usually co-starring Francis Ford, the older brother of director John Ford.  Not only was Grace the star of these films, but frequently was also the writer and occasionally the director.  She also dabbled in politics, becoming the first city assessor of Universal City in 1913.  A true pioneer of cinema, her popularity began to wane in the Twenties, but she continued to occasionally act until her retirement from the screen in 1946.  She passed away in Los Angeles in 1967 at the age of 73.

An interesting side note: Grace was not the only future Hollywood star living in the Short North at the turn of the 20th century.  Also in the neighborhood was a young Warner Baxter.  It's doubtful that they knew one another, but it is possible that they attended the same school, Dennison Elementary, which is still standing.  Although 4 years older than Grace, Warner's career didn't start taking off until after her's had already peaked.  He earned a Best Actor Oscar in 1928 for In Old Arizona playing the Cisco Kid.  He also starred in the hit musical 42nd Street in 1933 and played the title character in the series of Crime Doctor films in the Forties.  Warner died in 1951.