Mabel Bert was an Australian-born American actress.
Early life
Bert was born in Australia in 1862. Her father was A.C. Scott whose family was very wealthy. They immigrated to the United States in 1865, settling in San Francisco, California to allow Mabel better schooling. She was educated in Mills Seminary in Oakland, California.
Career
Mabel was an actress, known for Straight Is the Way, The Wonderful Thing and Blackbirds. She started as an actress by chance, she was behind the scene with a friend during the performance of Oliver Twist and was asked at the last minute to replace a missing actress with three lines. At the beginning of her career, for two years she played with various companies throughout California, and in 1886 joined a stock company in San Francisco for leading parts. For 14 months she took a new part every week, including Shakespeare's plays, old comedies, melodramas, society plays and burlesques. In 1887, she went east and joined one of Frohman Brothers' companies in Held by the Enemy. Since that time, Bert took leading parts in various plays and appeared in all of the important cities of the U.S. She played leads for the John A. Stevens Company at the old Grand Opera House, San Francisco.
Personal life
She left school when 17 years old, and on 25 May 1879, she married Edward G. Bert, theatrical manager working for his brother, Fred Bert, a pioneer theater man of Oakland. She had two daughters, Phyllis and Gladys, and made her debut on the stage in 1880. In 1887, she began a relationship with Arthur McKee Rankin and became pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl, Doris Rankin, who later married Lionel Barrymore, Bert's costar in Arizona. In 1888 her husband filed for divorce on the ground of desertion. In 1892, Rankin's wife filed for divorce, but Rankin, a devoted Catholic, did not marry Bert. Rankin already had two daughters from his marriage to Kitty Blanchard. On 28 July 1893, Bert married Forrest Robinson, who was an actor from Broadway and later starred in films of Mary Pickford. They met when performing together in The Lost Paradise. After becoming a widow in the 1930s, she lived with her daughter in Denver.
Works
Stage Play 1925: Accused as Mme. De Verron
Movie 1921: The Wonderful Thing as Lady Sophia Alexandria Mannerby
Movie 1921: Straight Is the Way as Aunt Mehitabel
Movie 1920: Blackbirds
Stage Play 1918: Turn to the Right
Stage Play 1915: Daddy Long Legs
Stage Play 1914: Young Wisdom as Mrs. Claffenden: "The girls' mother played splendidly by Mabel Bert."
Stage Play 1912: The Senator Keeps House as Mrs Ida Flower: "Miss Mabel Bert played the part of Mrs. Ida Flower with great skill, delicacy and charm."
Stege Play 1911: Sire as Mlle de Saint-Salbi: "One of the most sympathetic and charming character portrayals that has been seen on the Pittsburgh stage in a long time."
Stage Play 1906: The Crossing as Mrs. Temple: "The finished acting of Miss Mabel Bert saved it from exceeding tameness"
Stage Play 1906: The Light Eternal
Stage Play 1906: The Price of Money
Broadway 1899-1900-1901-1903-1905: Ben Hur as Mother of Hur
Stage Play 1899: Arizona as Estrella Bonham
Stage Play 1898: The Master as Mrs. Thomas Faber: "Mabel Bert as the wife of the stern "Master" cannot well be too much praised for her earnest and natural performances."
Stage Play 1896: The Liar as Elaine Rousseau
Stage Play 1894: The Lost Paradise: "Among the actors and actresses who made up the stock company and the Bijou last summer, none were more genuinely appreciated than young Forrest Robinson and Mabel Bert."
Stage Play 1892: Little Tippett
Stage Play 1891: The Canuck as Angelique Bisquitte
