LEST WE FORGET PAULINE LORD
(August 13, 1890 - October 11, 1950)

She was notable for roles in Eugene O'Neill's plays.  When she opened in London as Anna Christie (April 10, 1923), the reception was overwhelming. The ovation at the Strand Theatre lasted a half hour; the audience sang "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow" and mobbed her dressing room.  Critics mentioned her breathless voice, her realistic acting that was not acting at all and Brooks Atkinson wrote about the "elusive, tremulous, infinitely gifted Pauline Lord."

Her lifelong interest in theatre began with a school play and by trips to Saturday matinees in San Francisco. She studied acting at the Alcazar Theatre School and made her professional debut at the age of thirteen with the Belasco Stock Company. The popular comedian
Nat Goodwin saw her in a play and invited her to look him up if she ever came to New York.  After the San Francisco earthquake and fire, she relocated there and he debut was in The Talker by
Marion Fairfax (1912) which was successful.  Producer Arthur Hopkins was impressed with her acting ability and she starred in several of his productions including Samson and Delilah.

EUGENE O'NEILL

Her first outstanding success was in Eugene O'Neill's play Anna Christie  which opened at the Vanderbilt Theatre, November 2, 1921.  In preparation for the role she observed the prostitutes on 10th Avenue, but eventually modeled the character on a department store clerk who waited on her and projected a "beaten soul. . . tired to death."  Her other truly great role of the decade was that of Nina Leeds in O'Neill's Strange Interlude, a role she took over from Lynn Fontanne.  She toured in the play during 1928 and 1929.

OTHER SUCCESSES
She appeared as Amy in Sidney Howard's They Knew What They Wanted (1924), Trelawney of the Wells (1927), Salvation (1928). In 1932 she scored considerable success in The Late Christopher Bean. But perhaps the most complex character of her career was as Zenobia in the dramatization of
Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome.  Stark Young titled his critique of the play, "Miss Lord's Day" and pointed out that she "tops everything, the story, the play, the scene, the acting. ...her performance has a miraculous humility, a subtle variety and radiation and shy power that are indescribable...She must have a role that suits her, one in which she feels right. When she does so, there is no other player who can bring into it such tragic elements, such bite, or so sharp a stain of life." (Immortal Shadows)

There are few interviews with her on record though her picture appeared frequently in magazines. She was described as being petite, five feet two inches, and possessing a mop of tawny hair, a straight little nose, wistful, velvety eyes, and a soft, sweet voice. Her manner was hesitant, at times timid and vague with an elusive quality that fascinated her audiences.

When the Moscow Art Theatre was leading the way in realistic acting and when many American actresses were bringing their personalities to the stage, Pauline Lord was developing her unique kind of realistic portrayal of emotion.   Producer Arthur Hopkins encouraged her to do whatever she felt like doing on the stage.  "If there is such a thing as Absolute Truth that is what she achieves." he said later in her career.  She herself confessed to her interviewer that she could never act unless she was unhappy or nervous. "On stage I know exactly what I am about...I have to study, struggle, get to rock bottom. . .But finally I see every word, every action; every intonation, every movement is clear to me."

Resource:  Notable Women in the American Theatre. 1989.   Nelda K. Balch
Young, Stark. Immortal Shadows. 1948 reprinted in 1973
Stevens. Ashton. Actorviews. 1923