Carrie W. Colburn (c. 1859 – May 23, 1932) was an American theater and silent film actress, as well as a playwright. She sometimes acted on the stage under the name Ray Harrison. [1] [2]
Colburn was born in 1858 [2] or 1859 [3] in Gardiner, Maine. Her brother was Frank S. Colburn. [1]
She wrote plays, skits, and acted in theatrical productions, including in Little Minister by J. M. Barrie and Over the Hill. [4]
She wrote the three-act, comedy play His Last Chance or The Little Joker. [3] [5] In 1893, a performance of the play was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [6] That year in September, the play was produced in Winthrop Centre in Massachusetts, [5] after she was living in the area for the summer. [7] The year after, the play was produced in Boston, with Trixie Friganza playing the lead, and Colburn playing as a character named Buttons. [8] Later on, His Last Chance was plagiarized and republished under the name My Uncle from India and My Uncle; the plagiarized version was produced by at least four acting companies. [9]
Colburn wrote a "society comedy" play titled Bob's Uncle, which was produced in Boston in 1894. During the performance, Colburn played the part of a boy. [10] She wrote the war drama play, The Girl in Blue, which premiered in March 1894 at the Columbia Theater in Boston; during the performance, she played the part of a "youngster". Half of the proceeds from the production were planned to be donated to charity. [11] [12] After the performance at Columbia, Colburn was quoted in the Boston Globe asking for the public to "suspend judgement" until a better performance of the play was produced, stating her work wasn't represented properly. [13]
In 1894, Colburn was the manager of the Star school of acting, based in Boston. That same year, she started a stock company that was meant to perform in suburban towns. [14] [15]
Once motion pictures began gaining popularity, Colbrun left stage acting to become an actress in films. [4] She played as the parson's mother in the film, Smilin' Through, [16] which was released in 1922.
Colburn retired from acting later in her life. [17] At the time of her death, she was living with Sarah Bird, a retired actress and musician who previously worked in the theater. She died on May 23, 1932, at her home in Manhattan, New York City. [1] [16] She was buried by the Actors Fund of America. [1] After her death, a neighbor mentioned she was sick for the week prior. [16]