Emma Dunn Biography

Matronly British-born actress Emma Dunn was typed as mothers, grandmothers and housekeepers even during her earliest years in the theater. She was 41 when she played her first starring role on stage in 1916's Old Lady 31. She made her first film in 1919, and her last in 1948, changing very little physically during those three decades. Emma Dunn's best-remembered film assignments included the housekeeper of "pixillated" Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and the mother of Lew Ayres in several installments of MGM's Dr. Kildare series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi