Kenneth MacKenna
| Kenneth MacKenna | |
|---|---|
Kenneth MacKenna and J. Farrell MacDonald in Men Without Women (1930)
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| Born |
Leo Mielziner, Jr. August 19, 1899 Canterbury, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Died | January 15, 1962 (aged 62) Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, Director |
| Years active | 1920–1961 |
| Spouse(s) |
Kay Francis (1931–1933) (divorced) Mary Philips (1938–1962) (His Death) |
Kenneth MacKenna (August 19, 1899 – January 15, 1962) was an American actor and film director, born Leo Mielziner, Jr. in Canterbury, New Hampshire.
Parents were portrait artist Leo Mielziner, Sr.(December 7, 1868 - August 11, 1935), the son of a prominent Reform rabbi, Moses Mielziner, and Ella Lane McKenna Friend (March 18, 1873 – February 2, 1968). Ella and Leo were married October 20, 1896 in Boston, Massachusetts after having fallen in love in Paris, where Leo was a young artist. Leo, Sr. was born in New York City had a career as a notable portrait artist, living with his wife and children between Paris, New York, Cape Cod and New Hampshire. Leo, Sr. died in Truro, Massachusetts.
Ella, Kenneth's mother, was born in Manchester, New Hampshire of Anglo-Irish descent and was a Catholic, she died in New York City. Ella was successful as a writer, submitting among other things a monthly column called "Aube du Siecle" for Vogue magazine, during a period when she and Leo and the young Mielziner boys, Leo, Jr. and Jo, lived in Paris. Although Kenneth changed his name from Mielziner to MacKenna for stage purposes, it was taken from family roots. Ella's mother’s maiden name was Margaret A. McKenna, and Ella was also named McKenna. So it seemed natural for Leo, Jr., to take MacKenna as his stage surname, changing the spelling slightly.
Ella Lane McKenna Friend was the direct descendant of John Friend who came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1630s (Henderson, Mary C. Mielziner: master.., pg 27). The Moses Mielziner family, that of Kenneth's paternal grandfather, immigrated from Posen, Prussia, and Kenneth's grandfather was a Reform rabbi, Moses Mielziner associated with Hebrew Union College. Moses Mielziner was a descendant of Joseph Caro. A complete history of the Mielziner family can be found in the wonderful book by Mary C. Henderson, Mielziner:master of modern stage design (2001).
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