Edythe Chapman

Biography

Chapman began her stage career as early as 1898 when she appeared in New York City in the Charity Ball. Edythe performed at the Shubert Theater in Brooklyn, New York in a production of The Light Eternal in 1907. The play was a romantic drama of early Rome which was supported by a cast of approximately 100 people.

Chapman played maternal roles in numerous silent motion pictures and became known in the 1920s as Hollywood's Mother. She played Ma Jones in the film version of Lightnin' (1925), a screen production which featured Will Rogers. Edythe was Grandmother Janeway in Man Crazy (1927). The film starred Dorothy Mackaill and Jack Mulhall. Chapman was praised by reviewers for her performance.

Miss Chapman came to Hollywood around 1909 with her husband, screen and stage actor, James Neill. The couple met in Cincinnati, Ohio when Miss Chapman was working in Mr. Neill's stock company. The couple got married in 1897 and soon began making movies with Cecil B. Demille and other noteworthy directors and producers. They had leading roles in The Ten Commandments (1923), Manslaughter (1922), The Little American (1917), and other silent motion pictures. Mr. Neill died in 1931. The final movie in which Edythe appeared was Double Crossroads in 1930. Prior to this, she had a large role in Navy Blues (1929).

Death

Edythe Chapman Neill died in Glendale, California in 1948 after a brief illness, aged 85. She was interred in Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia.