Born 1899 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, American actress Aline MacMahon made her Broadway debut in 1920 as a craps-playing debutante in The Mirage. After traveling to Los Angeles to star in the road company of the Broadway smash Once in a Lifetime, she was noticed by Warner Brothers director Mervyn LeRoy, and made her film debut in the Pre-Code drama Five Star Final (1931).
After signing a long-term contract with Warners, Aline spent the rest of her career splitting time between New York and Hollywood in order to be with her husband, the Manhattan-based architect and city planner, Clarence Stein. In the1930s and 40s, she was a critical darling (Walter Winchell called her “the very good actress”), often cast as the acerbic comedienne with a heart of gold, or the long-suffering woman unlucky in love.
Aline worked extensively in film, theater, and television until her retirement in 1975. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Dragon Seed (1944). She died in 1991, aged 92, of pneumonia in New York City.
Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see portraits of a young Aline MacMahon in the 1920s and 1930s.
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