Doris Margaret Kenyon (September 5, 1897 – September 1, 1979) was an American actress of film and television.

Early life She grew up in Syracuse, New York, where her family had a home at 1805 Harrison Street. Her father, James B. Kenyon, was a Methodist Episcopal Church minister at University Church. Kenyon studied at Packer College Institute and later at Columbia University. She sang in the choirs of Grace Presbyterian and Bushwick Methodist Churches in Brooklyn, New York. Her brother was a dentist and New York assemblyman Raymond T. Kenyon.

Her voice attracted the attention of Broadway theatrical scouts who enticed her to become a performer on the stage. In 1915 she first appeared as a chorus girl in the Victor Herbert operetta The Princess Pat.

Film career

In 1915, she made her first film, The Rack, with World Film Company of Fort Lee, New Jersey. One of the most remembered films of her early career is Monsieur Beaucaire (1924). In this production, she starred opposite Rudolph Valentino. She and her husband, Milton Sills, starred in The Unguarded Hour for First National Pictures (1925). Laura Wood, a star swimmer and wife of Gaylord Wood, First National Pictures cinematographer, doubled for her swimming scenes because she couldn't swim.

Kenyon's first sound film was The Home Towners (1928). She also starred in Paramount Pictures' first talking film, Interference (1928).

Kenyon was cast opposite actor George Arliss in two films: Alexander Hamilton (1931) and Voltaire (1933). She participated in Counsellor at Law (1933) with John Barrymore. In the autumn of 1935, Doris appeared with Ramon Novarro in the play A Royal Miscarriage in London.

Kenyon's film career ended with a cameo in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939).

Music Kenyon's performances as a singer grew out of an evening in New York when a manager of concert artists heard her sing at home for some friends. Afterward, he worked with her to arrange a tour. Singing eventually became an outlet for expressing her feelings after her first husband's death. A soprano, she performed in Detroit as part of the Town Hall Series and in Phoenix as part of the All-Star Artists Series, among others.

Kenyon's concerts featured more than vocal performances. Her "Lyrical Silhouettes" tour in 1933 included "characterizations presented in a half-dozen or more foreign languages and dialects." A variety of costumes supplemented the music in the program's segments.

Radio Kenyon played Ann Cooper in the soap opera Crossroads on NBC in the 1940s.

Television Kenyon continued her acting career in television in the 1950s. She was cast in episodes of The Secret Storm (1954), Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and 77 Sunset Strip.

Marriages Kenyon was married four times. Her first husband was the actor Milton Sills. She wed Sills on October 12, 1926. She was widowed in 1930. She had one son with Sills, Kenyon Clarence Sills, born in 1927. She married New York real estate broker Arthur Hopkins in 1933. The two divorced the following year, citing incompatibility. In 1938 Doris married Albert D. Lasker, owner of Lord & Thomas, an advertising agency. They divorced in 1939. Her final marriage was to musician Bronislaw Mlynarski in 1947. He was the son of composer Emil Młynarski and the brother-in-law of Arthur Rubinstein.

Death Doris Kenyon died on September 1, 1979, at her home in Beverly Hills, California of cardiac arrest.

In popular culture In 1922, a newborn girl, Doris Kappelhoff, was named after Kenyon. Kappelhoff grew up to be singer and actress Doris Day. Many years later, Day purchased a home in Beverly Hills that was "a few houses away from [Kenyon's], on the very same street."

Filmography Silent Year Title Role Notes 1915 The Rack Effie McKenzie Lost film 1916 The Pawn of Fate Marcine Dufrene Lost film The Feast of Life Celida A copy is held at the Czech Film Archive The Man Who Stood Still Marie Krauss Lost film The Ocean Waif Millie Jessop Short subject The Traveling Salesman Beth Elliot Lost film 1917 The Man Who Forgot Edith Mallon Lost film A Girl's Folly Mary Baker The Empress Nedra Jimmy Dale Alias the Grey Seal Bit role Short subject Lost film On Trial Bit role Uncredited A copy is held at the George Eastman House The Great White Trail Prudence Carrington Strictly Business Short subject The Hidden Hand Doris Whitney Pathe Exchange Lost film Serial 1918 The Street of Seven Stars Harmony Wells The Inn of the Blue Moon Justine Druce / Dorothy Druce Wild Honey Wild Honey / Mrs. Holbrook William L. Sherry / Film Clearing HouseA copy is held at the Museum of Modern Art 1919 Twilight Twilight William L. Sherry / Film Clearing House The Bandbox Eleanor Searle W.W. Hodkinson / Pathe Exchange 1920 The Harvest Moon Dora Fullerton W.W. Hodkinson / Pathe Exchange 1921 The Conquest of Canaan Ariel Taber Paramount Pictures Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford Fannie Jasper Paramount Pictures Lost film 1922 Shadows of the Sea Dorothy Jordan Selznick Pictures Lost film The Ruling Passion Angie Alden United ArtistsA copy is held at Gosfilmofond Sure Fire Flint June De Lanni Mastodon Film Lost film 1923 You Are Guilty Alice Farrell Mastodon Film The Last Moment Alice Winthrop Goldwyn Pictures Lost film Bright Lights of Broadway Irene Marley Principal Distributing A copy is held at the Library of Congress 1924 Restless Wives Amy Van Clayton CC Burr Lost film The Love Bandit Polly Benson Vitagraph The New School Teacher Diana Pope CC Burr Lend Me Your Husband Aline Stackton CC Burr Monsieur Beaucaire Lady Mary Famous Players-Lasky Born Rich Frances Melrose First National A copy is held at Deutsche Kinemathek Idle Tongues Katherine Minot Ince / First National Lost film 1925 If I Marry Again Jocelyn Margot First National Lost film A Thief in Paradise Helen Saville First National Lost film I Want My Man Vida First National Lost film The Half-Way Girl Poppy La Rue First National Lost film The Unguarded Hour Virginia Gilbert First National Lost film 1926 Men of Steel Mary Berwick First National Lost film Mismates Judy Winslow First National Lost film Ladies at Play Ann Harper First National Lost film The Blonde Saint Ghirlaine Bellamy First National Lost film 1927 The Valley of the Giants Shirley Pennington First National 1928 Burning Daylight Virgie First National The Hawk's Nest Madelon Arden First National Lost film Sound Year Title Role Notes 1928 The Home Towners Beth Calhoun Warner Bros. Lost film Interference Faith Marlay Paramount Pictures 1930 Beau Bandit Helen Wardell RKO Pictures 1931 The Bargain Nancy First National / Warner Bros. Alexander Hamilton Betsy Hamilton Warner Bros. The Road to Singapore Philippa Crosby March Warner Bros. The Ruling Voice Mary Stanton First National / Warner Bros. 1932 Young America Edith Doray Fox Film Corporation The Man Called Back Diana St. Claire Tiffany Pictures 1933 Voltaire Mme. Pompadour Warner Bros. No Marriage Ties Adrienne Deane RKO Pictures Counsellor at Law Cora Simon Universal Pictures 1934 Whom the Gods Destroy Margaret Forrester Columbia Pictures The Human Side Vera Sheldon Universal Pictures 1936 Along Came Love Mrs. Gould Paramount Pictures 1938 Girls' School Mrs. Simpson Columbia Pictures 1939 The Man in the Iron Mask Queen Anne United Artists

References

Bibliography

External links

Doris Kenyon at Virtual History