Seena Owen
Encyclopedia
Seena Owen was a Danish-American silent film actress.
, the youngest of three children raised by Jens Christensen and Karen (née Sorensen) Auen. Her father and mother came from Denmark
in the late 1880s and settled in Minnesota
where they married in 1888. Within a short period of time they relocated to Portland
and then Spokane where her father became proprietor of the Columbia Pharmacy on the corner of Main and Washington. In her youth Owen was enrolled at Brunot Hall, an Episcopalian girl’s school in Spokane founded by Bishop Lemuel H. Wells
, and would later attend school overseas in Copenhagen
. Owen's life as the daughter of an affluent business owner changed in her late teens when the family business failed and it became necessary to seek employment. She received her early inspiration to act while a student at the Pauline Dunstan Belden School of Elocution in Spokane before appearing in a stock production in San Francisco playing the part of a maid for $5 a week. Soon she traveled south to Hollywood to find work as a movie extra and had the good fortune to run into actor-director Marshall Neilan
, then a Hollywood "boy wonder" who Owen knew when they both lived in Spokane. Through Neilan she was hired by the Kalem Company
, an early motion picture studio, at $15 a week.
's Intolerance. The same year she married George Walsh
whom she had met on the set of Intolerance. The marriage lasted until their divorce in 1924. A regular player for the rest of the silent era, Owen appeared in films such as Maurice Tourneur
's Victory
in 1919 where she was photographed to great effect by Tourneur's cameraman, Rene Guissart. Victory long lost was recently found in 35mm print in Europe and can now showcase Seena's beauty to modern audiences on DVD. In 1920 Owen appeared in "The Gift Supreme" with Lon Chaney
, who appeared with her in Victory. All but one reel of The Gift Supreme is lost. She also co-starred with Gloria Swanson
and Walter Byron
in the ill-fated Queen Kelly
(1928), in which she plays the mad Queen who whips Swanson in one famous scene.
With the arrival of sound in movies, Owen's weak voice became a problem and forced her to retire from the silver screen in 1933. After her retirement, she worked on a number of films in the 1930s and 40s as a screenwriter including two starring Dorothy Lamour
, Aloma of the South Seas
and Rainbow Island
, both in 1941. The former was written in part with her sister, Lillie Hayward
, a successful Hollywood screenwriter.
Owen is also known for being on William Randolph Hearst
's yacht
The Oneida during the weekend in November 1924 when film director and producer Thomas Ince
fell ill a few days before suffering a fatal heart attack at his Hollywood home. This incident was the basis for the film The Cat's Meow
.
. She was survived by her daughter, Patricia Walsh Noonan.
Early Life
She was born Signe M. Auen at Spokane, WashingtonSpokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
, the youngest of three children raised by Jens Christensen and Karen (née Sorensen) Auen. Her father and mother came from Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in the late 1880s and settled in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
where they married in 1888. Within a short period of time they relocated to Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
and then Spokane where her father became proprietor of the Columbia Pharmacy on the corner of Main and Washington. In her youth Owen was enrolled at Brunot Hall, an Episcopalian girl’s school in Spokane founded by Bishop Lemuel H. Wells
Lemuel H. Wells
Lemuel Henry Wells was the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane. -Early years:Born in Yonkers, New York, Wells lived a sheltered childhood, and as a boy experienced a desire to become a missionary. He entered Trinity College in 1860...
, and would later attend school overseas in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. Owen's life as the daughter of an affluent business owner changed in her late teens when the family business failed and it became necessary to seek employment. She received her early inspiration to act while a student at the Pauline Dunstan Belden School of Elocution in Spokane before appearing in a stock production in San Francisco playing the part of a maid for $5 a week. Soon she traveled south to Hollywood to find work as a movie extra and had the good fortune to run into actor-director Marshall Neilan
Marshall Neilan
Marshall Ambrose Neilan was an American motion picture actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer.-Early life:...
, then a Hollywood "boy wonder" who Owen knew when they both lived in Spokane. Through Neilan she was hired by the Kalem Company
Kalem Company
The Kalem Company was an American film studio founded in New York City in 1907 by George Kleine, Samuel Long , and Frank J. Marion.The company immediately joined other studios in the Motion Picture Patents Company that held a monopoly on production and distribution...
, an early motion picture studio, at $15 a week.
Career
Her first important film was A Yankee From the West (1915) under the name Signe Auen at the age of 21. She was later convinced to change her name and settled on Seena Owen, the phonetic spelling of her real name. In 1916 she performed in D. W. GriffithD. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
's Intolerance. The same year she married George Walsh
George Walsh
George Walsh was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 81 films between 1914 and 1936.He was born in New York, New York and died in Pomona, California from pneumonia. He was the younger brother of film director Raoul Walsh...
whom she had met on the set of Intolerance. The marriage lasted until their divorce in 1924. A regular player for the rest of the silent era, Owen appeared in films such as Maurice Tourneur
Maurice Tourneur
Maurice Tourneur was an important international film director and screenwriter.-Life:Born Maurice Thomas in the Belleville district of Paris, France, his father was a jeweler. As a young man, Maurice Thomas first trained as a graphic designer and a magazine illustrator but was soon drawn to the...
's Victory
Victory (1919 film)
Victory is a 1919 American film directed by Maurice Tourneur, starring Jack Holt, Seena Owen, Lon Chaney and Wallace Beery. The movie is an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Joseph Conrad. The screenplay was written by Jules Furthman.-Cast:...
in 1919 where she was photographed to great effect by Tourneur's cameraman, Rene Guissart. Victory long lost was recently found in 35mm print in Europe and can now showcase Seena's beauty to modern audiences on DVD. In 1920 Owen appeared in "The Gift Supreme" with Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
, who appeared with her in Victory. All but one reel of The Gift Supreme is lost. She also co-starred with Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
and Walter Byron
Walter Byron
Competitor for CanadaWalter Jacob Byron was a Canadian ice hockey player of Icelandic and English decent, who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics....
in the ill-fated Queen Kelly
Queen Kelly
Queen Kelly is the title of an American silent film produced in 1928-29 and released in 1929, originally by United Artists. The film was directed by Erich von Stroheim, starred Gloria Swanson in the title role, and also starred Walter Byron and Seena Owen. It was produced by Joseph P...
(1928), in which she plays the mad Queen who whips Swanson in one famous scene.
With the arrival of sound in movies, Owen's weak voice became a problem and forced her to retire from the silver screen in 1933. After her retirement, she worked on a number of films in the 1930s and 40s as a screenwriter including two starring Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
, Aloma of the South Seas
Aloma of the South Seas (1941 film)
Aloma of the South Seas is a 1941 island romance adventure starring Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall and directed by Alfred Santell. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on the 1925 Broadway play by LeRoy Clemens and John B. Hymer. It is a remake of the 1926 film of the same name...
and Rainbow Island
Rainbow Island
Rainbow Island is a 1917 short comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd.-Cast:* Harold Lloyd* Snub Pollard* Bebe Daniels* Frank Alexander* Carl Barbesgaard* William Blaisdell* Sammy Brooks* Walter Crompton* Billy Evans* Billy Fay -...
, both in 1941. The former was written in part with her sister, Lillie Hayward
Lillie Hayward
Lillie Hayward was an American film actress and later screenwriter whose Hollywood career began during the silent era and continued well into the age of television...
, a successful Hollywood screenwriter.
Owen is also known for being on William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
's yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
The Oneida during the weekend in November 1924 when film director and producer Thomas Ince
Thomas H. Ince
Thomas Harper Ince was an American silent film actor, director, screenwriter and producer of more than 100 films and pioneering studio mogul. Known as the "Father of the Western", he invented many mechanisms of professional movie production, introducing early Hollywood to the "assembly line"...
fell ill a few days before suffering a fatal heart attack at his Hollywood home. This incident was the basis for the film The Cat's Meow
The Cat's Meow
The Cat's Meow is a 2001 drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and starring Kirsten Dunst, Eddie Izzard, Edward Herrmann, Cary Elwes, Joanna Lumley, and Jennifer Tilly. The screenplay by Steven Peros is based on his play of the same title, which was inspired by the mysterious death of film...
.
Death
Seena Owen died on August 15, 1966 at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, aged 71, and was interred at Hollywood Forever CemeteryHollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, originally called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles, California. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood...
. She was survived by her daughter, Patricia Walsh Noonan.
Selected filmography
- Queen KellyQueen KellyQueen Kelly is the title of an American silent film produced in 1928-29 and released in 1929, originally by United Artists. The film was directed by Erich von Stroheim, starred Gloria Swanson in the title role, and also starred Walter Byron and Seena Owen. It was produced by Joseph P...
(19291929 in film-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
) - The Blue DanubeThe Blue Danube (1928 film)The Blue Danube is a 1928 silent film romance/drama starring Leatrice Joy. This picture was produced by Cecil B. DeMille and directed by Paul Sloane with a distribution through Pathe Exchange.-Cast:*Leatrice Joy - Marguerite*Joseph Schildkraut - Ludwig...
(19281928 in film-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...
) - Flame of the Yukon (19261926 in film-Events:*August - Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system used multiple 33⅓ rpm disc records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back audio synchronized with film....
) - Back Pay (19221922 in film-Events:* June 11 - United States première of Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North, the first commercially successful feature length documentary film....
) (Extant; Library of Congress) - Riders of VengeanceRiders of VengeanceRiders of Vengeance is a 1919 Western film directed by John Ford and featuring Harry Carey. The film is considered to be lost.-Production:...
(19191919 in filmThe year 1919 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 5 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists...
) - VictoryVictory (1919 film)Victory is a 1919 American film directed by Maurice Tourneur, starring Jack Holt, Seena Owen, Lon Chaney and Wallace Beery. The movie is an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Joseph Conrad. The screenplay was written by Jules Furthman.-Cast:...
(1919) with Lon Chaney, Sr.Lon Chaney, Sr.Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
and Wallace BeeryWallace BeeryWallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor... - IntoleranceIntolerance (film)Intolerance is a 1916 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era. The three-and-a-half hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines each separated by several centuries: A contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; a...
(19161916 in filmThe year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....
) - Little MarieLittle MarieLittle Marie is a 1915 short drama film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Walter Long* Seena Owen - Bianca Pastorelli * Charles West - Beppo Puccini * Tom Wilson - Sam Coggini...
(19151915 in filmThe year 1915 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 8 : D.W Griffith's The Birth of a Nation premieres at Clune's Auditorium Los Angeles and breaks box office and film length records, running at a total length of 3 hrs 10 minutes.* June 18 : The Motion Picture Directors...
) - The HighbindersThe HighbindersThe Highbinders is a 1915 short crime film directed by Tod Browning.-Cast:* Eugene Pallette - Hop Woo* Seena Owen - Ah Woo * Billie West - Maggie Gallagher* Walter Long - Pat Gallagher* Tom Wilson - Jack Donovan...
(1915) - An Image of the PastAn Image of the PastAn Image of the Past is a 1915 short drama film directed by Tod Browning....
(1915) - The LambThe Lamb (1915 film)The Lamb is a 1915 silent film that was Douglas Fairbanks's first starring role in a film. Fairbanks apparently played an extra or warm up part in Martyrs of the Alamo before releasing The Lamb. Surviving stills of The Lamb show Fairbanks at one point as an Indian brave in a near state of nudity...
(1915) - The Penitentes (1915)
External links
- Seena Owen at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...