--- name: "Mae Marsh" canonical: "https://film.one/person/mae-marsh" fi1m_id: "mae-marsh" imdb_id: "nm0550615" tmdb_id: 8829 wikidata_id: "Q153332" roles: ["Actor"] born: "7 November 1894" died: "13 February 1968" reviewed_on_fi1m: 8 average_fi1m_score: 58 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-24T23:26:07.906973+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Mae Marsh ## Identity Mae Marsh - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/mae-marsh - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** mae-marsh - **IMDb ID:** nm0550615 - **TMDB ID:** 8829 - **Wikidata ID:** Q153332 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Marsh, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q153332, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0550615/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8829 Actor. Born 7 November 1894 in Madrid, New Mexico Territory , USA. Died 13 February 1968. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 7 November 1894, Madrid, New Mexico Territory , USA - **Died:** 13 February 1968 - **Active:** 1915–1916 - **Also known as:** Mary Wayne "Mae" Marsh, Mary Wayne Marsh - **Titles on Fi1m:** 8: 2 acting, 6 other - **Frequently works with:** [D.W. Griffith](https://film.one/person/d-w-griffith.md), [Frank E. Woods](https://film.one/person/frank-e-woods.md), [Lillian Gish](https://film.one/person/lillian-gish.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 58, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1910s 58 (2), 1940s 78 (4), 1950s 63 (2) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Marsh, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q153332, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0550615/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8829 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages*](https://film.one/film/intolerance-loves-struggle-throughout-the-ages.md) (83) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Mae Marsh > Mae Marsh could not keep still on screen, and she made that her method. In Griffith's silents she plays fear as fidget and laughs where another actor would weep. She spent her sound years in the corners of John Ford films, easy to miss. Watch Mae Marsh's hands. In *The Birth of a Nation* (1915) she plays Flora Cameron, the younger sister, and while the rest of the cast semaphore their feelings from the elbow she twitches, darts, doubles back and cannot settle in a frame. Griffith's actors were taught to make grief legible from the back of a hall. Marsh made it look like something happening to a person. Late in the film, in a scene we will not set up, she is frightened out of her wits and what comes out of her is laughter. She knew what she was doing. In her book *Screen Acting* she wrote that "It was the hysterical laugh of the little girl in the cellar...that was far more effective than rolling the eyes or weeping would have been." She got there by hanging around. She followed her sister Marguerite to the Biograph studio, and by 1912 Griffith had put her in *Man's Genesis*, a lead that grander names had turned down, opposite Robert Harron. They would make something like sixty films together, and he was the right partner for her, a still point she could move around. *Intolerance* (1916) gave her The Dear One and a courtroom scene she later called the hardest work she ever did, shot four times over. A contract at Goldwyn from 1916 to 1918 produced nothing that used her as well, and after *The White Rose* (1923), her last starring part of note for Griffith, she stepped back from leads. She came back in 1931 with *Over the Hill* and stayed for thirty-odd years, mostly in small parts and often without her name on the picture. John Ford kept finding room for her: Muley's wife in *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940), a face among the women of *How Green Was My Valley*, *Fort Apache*, *The Quiet Man*, *The Searchers* (1956). These are mothers and neighbours, people who stand in doorways. Ford's crowds ask for stillness, and stillness was never her gift. You can watch a Ford film twice and not know she was in it, which is its own kind of professionalism and also a waste. Our reaction to *The Birth of a Nation* is not a comfortable one. We do not recommend the film. Yet Marsh's Flora is the one thing in it that still breathes, and we caught ourselves leaning towards the screen, worried for a girl in a picture built to turn that worry into a lie. That is how good she was, and it is also the trouble: Griffith knew exactly what her nerves would do to an audience, and he aimed them. If you go looking for her, go with the argument in view. The performance survives the film; the film does not deserve it. ## Biography Mae Marsh (born Mary Warne Marsh) was an American film actress whose career spanned over fifty years. She appeared in D. W. Griffith's *The Birth of a Nation* (1915) as Flora Cameron and in *Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages* (1916) as The Dear One. Marsh began working in films around 1912 with Griffith and Mack Sennett. After her early starring roles, she took a contract with Samuel Goldwyn and later appeared in numerous sound films, often in small or uncredited parts, including *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940), *The Quiet Man* (1952) and *The Searchers* (1956). She was married to Louis Lee Arms from 1918 until her death. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, encyclopedia.com, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (8) ### Performed in (2) — the average rests on these - *Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages* (1916), Fi1m 83, as The Dear One (Modern Story) — [page](https://film.one/film/intolerance-loves-struggle-throughout-the-ages.md) - *The Birth of a Nation* (1915), Fi1m 32, as Flora Cameron — [page](https://film.one/film/the-birth-of-a-nation.md) ### Also credited (6) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *The Robe* (1953), Fi1m 48, as Jerusalem Woman Aiding Demetrius (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-robe.md) - *The Quiet Man* (1952), Fi1m 78, as Father Paul's Mother (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-man.md) - *A Letter to Three Wives* (1949), Fi1m 79, as Miss Jenkins (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/a-letter-to-three-wives.md) - *Miracle on 34th Street* (1947), Fi1m 85, as Woman in Santa Line (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/miracle-on-34th-street.md) - *The Song of Bernadette* (1943), Fi1m 63, as Madame Blanche - Townswoman (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-song-of-bernadette.md) - *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940), Fi1m 86, as Muley's Wife (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-grapes-of-wrath.md) ## Complete filmography (144) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *I Am Not a Racist* (2019), as Flora (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Cheyenne Autumn* (1964), as Woman (uncredited) - *Donovan's Reef* (1963), as Family Council Member (uncredited) - *Two Rode Together* (1961), as Hanna Clegg (uncredited) - *Sergeant Rutledge* (1960), as Mrs. Nellie Hackett (uncredited) - *Bonanza* (1959), series, as Mary - *The Last Hurrah* (1958), as Mourner at Wake (uncredited) - *Wagon Train* (1957), series, as Mrs. Jesse Grant - *The Wings of Eagles* (1957), as Nurse Crumley (uncredited) - *Julie* (1956), as Hysterical Passenger - *Girls in Prison* (1956), as 'Grandma' Edwards - *The Searchers* (1956), as Dark Cloaked Woman at Fort Guarding Deranged Woman (uncredited) - *While the City Sleeps* (1956), as Mrs. Manners - *Hell on Frisco Bay* (1955), as Mrs. Cobb, Steve's Landlady (uncredited) - *The Tall Men* (1955), as Emigrant (uncredited) - *Prince of Players* (1955), as Witch in 'Macbeth' (uncredited) - *A Star Is Born* (1954), as Malibu Party Guest (uncredited) - *The Robe* (1953), as Jerusalem Woman Aiding Demetrius (uncredited) — Fi1m 48, [page](https://film.one/film/the-robe.md) - *A Blueprint for Murder* (1953), as Anna Swenson (uncredited) - *The Sun Shines Bright* (1953), as GAR Woman at the Ball - *Titanic* (1953), as Woman to Whom Norman Gave His Seat (uncredited) - *Night Without Sleep* (1952), as Maid (Uncredited) - *The Quiet Man* (1952), as Father Paul's Mother (uncredited) — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-man.md) - *My Blue Heaven* (1950), as Maid (uncredited) - *The Gunfighter* (1950), as Mrs. O'Brien (uncredited) - *When Willie Comes Marching Home* (1950), as Mrs. Clara Fettles (uncredited) - *Everybody Does It* (1949), as Harris - *The Fighting Kentuckian* (1949), as Sister Hattie - *It Happens Every Spring* (1949), as Greenleaf's Maid (uncredited) - *Impact* (1949), as Mrs. King - *A Letter to Three Wives* (1949), as Miss Jenkins (uncredited) — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/a-letter-to-three-wives.md) - *3 Godfathers* (1948), as Mrs. Perley Sweet - *Deep Waters* (1948), as Molly Thatcher - *Green Grass of Wyoming* (1948), as Race Spectator (uncredited) - *Fort Apache* (1948), as Mrs. Gates - *Daisy Kenyon* (1947), as Woman Leaving Apartment (uncredited) - *Thunder in the Valley* (1947), as Flower Vendor - *Mother Wore Tights* (1947), as Resort Guest (uncredited) - *Miracle on 34th Street* (1947), as Woman in Santa Line (uncredited) — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/miracle-on-34th-street.md) - *My Darling Clementine* (1946), as Simpson's Sister (uncredited) - *Smoky* (1946), as Woman Watching Parade (uncredited) - *Leave Her to Heaven* (1945), as Fisherwoman (uncredited) - *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn* (1945), as Tynmore Sister (uncredited) - *Jane Eyre* (1943), as Leah (uncredited) - *The Song of Bernadette* (1943), as Madame Blanche - Townswoman (uncredited) — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-song-of-bernadette.md) - *Quiet Please, Murder* (1943), as Miss Hartwig - *The Moon Is Down* (1943), as Villager (uncredited) - *Dixie Dugan* (1943), as Mrs. Sloan - *The Meanest Man in the World* (1943), as Old Lady (uncredited) - *The Man in the Trunk* (1942), as Mrs. Inge (uncredited) - *It's Everybody's War* (1942), as Mrs. Stone (uncredited) - *The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe* (1942), as Mrs. Phillips (uncredited) - *Just Off Broadway* (1942), as Autograph Seeker (uncredited) - *Tales of Manhattan* (1942), as Molly - *It Happened in Flatbush* (1942), as Aunt Mae (uncredited) - *Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake* (1942), as Mrs. Purdy (uncredited) - *Blue, White and Perfect* (1942), as Mrs. Bertha Toby - *Remember the Day* (1941), as Teacher - *Swamp Water* (1941), as Mrs. McCord (uncredited) - *Great Guns* (1941), as Aunt Martha - *Belle Starr* (1941), as Preacher's Wife (uncredited) - *For Beauty's Sake* (1941), as Night Manager (uncredited) - *Tobacco Road* (1941), as County Clerk's Assistant (uncredited) - *Young People* (1940), as Maria Liggett - *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940), as Muley's Wife (uncredited) — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/the-grapes-of-wrath.md) - *The Man Who Wouldn't Talk* (1940), as Mrs. Stetson - *Swanee River* (1939), as Mrs. Jonathan Fry (uncredited) - *Drums Along the Mohawk* (1939), as Pioneer Woman (uncredited) - *Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence* (1939), as Extra as Empire State Building Tourist - *Hollywood Boulevard* (1936), as Carlotta Blakeford - *Black Fury* (1935), as Mrs. Mary Novak - *Little Man, What Now?* (1934), as His Wife - *Alice in Wonderland* (1933), as Sheep - *That's My Boy* (1932), as Mother Scott - *Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm* (1932), as Aunt Jane - *The Movie Album* (1932), as (archive footage) - *Over the Hill* (1931), as Ma Shelby - *Life in Hollywood No. 4* (1927), Actor - *The Rat* (1925), as Odile Etrange - *Tides of Passion* (1925), as Charity - *Arabella* (1924), as Arabella - *Daddies* (1924), as Ruth Atkins - *The White Rose* (1923), as Bessie - *Paddy The Next Best Thing* (1923), as Paddy Adair - *Flames of Passion* (1922), as Dorothy Hawke - *Till We Meet Again* (1922), as Marion Bates - *Nobody's Kid* (1921), Actor - *The Little 'Fraid Lady* (1920), as Cecilia Carne - *The Mother and the Law* (1919), as The Little Dear One - *Spotlight Sadie* (1919), as Sadie Sullivan - *The Bondage of Barbara* (1919), as Barbara Grey - *The Racing Strain* (1918), as Lucille Cameron - *Stake Uncle Sam to Play Your Hand* (1918), as Belgian Girl - *All Woman* (1918), as Susan Sweeney - *The Face in the Dark* (1918), as Jane Ridgeway - *The Beloved Traitor* (1918), as Mary Garland - *The Cinderella Man* (1917), as Marjorie Caner - *Sunshine Alley* (1917), as Nell - *Polly of the Circus* (1917), as Polly - *Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages* (1916), as The Dear One (Modern Story) — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/intolerance-loves-struggle-throughout-the-ages.md) - *The Marriage of Molly-O* (1916), as Molly-O - *A Wild Girl of the Sierras* (1916), as The Wild Girl - *A Child of the Paris Streets* (1916), as Julie / the Child-Wife - *Hoodoo Ann* (1916), as Hoodoo Ann - *The Birth of a Nation* (1915), as Flora Cameron — Fi1m 32, [page](https://film.one/film/the-birth-of-a-nation.md) - *His Lesson* (1915), as Participant in Mob Scene (uncredited) - *The Avenging Conscience* (1914), as The Maid - *Moonshine Molly* (1914), as Molly Boone - *The Escape* (1914), as Jennie Joyce - *Home, Sweet Home* (1914), as Apple Pie Mary Smith - *The Life of General Villa* (1914), as American lover - *Brute Force* (1914), as Lilywhite - *Judith of Bethulia* (1914), as Naomi - *The Battle at Elderbush Gulch* (1913), as Sally Cameron - *By Man's Law* (1913), as Ann Calvert - Sister Owner - *For the Son of the House* (1913), as The Young Woman - *The Reformers* (1913), as The Daughter - *His Mother's Son* (1913), as The Daughter - *The Wanderer* (1913), as The Other Parents' Daughter, as an Adult - *The Little Tease* (1913), as The Little Tease, as an Adult - *The Perfidy of Mary* (1913), as Mary - *Fate* (1913), as Mother, Loving Family - *Near To Earth* (1913), as One of Gato's Sweetheart's Friends - *Broken Ways* (1913), as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited) - *Love in an Apartment Hotel* (1913), as Angelina Millingford - a Maid - *The Tender Hearted Boy* (1913), as The Tender-Hearted Boy's Sweetheart - *An Adventure in the Autumn Woods* (1913), as The Girl - *The Telephone Girl and the Lady* (1913), as The Telephone Girl - *Three Friends* (1913), as The Wife's Friend - *The New York Hat* (1912), as A Town Gossip - *Brutality* (1912), as The Young Woman - *Two Daughters of Eve* (1912), Actor - *Man's Genesis* (1912), as Lillywhite - *The School Teacher and the Waif* (1912), as Schoolgirl - *Lena and the Geese* (1912), as The 'Adopted' Daughter - *A Temporary Truce* (1912), as A Murdered Settler (uncredited) - *Home Folks* (1912), Actor - *A Beast at Bay* (1912), as The Young Woman's Friend - *A Lodging for the Night* (1912), as First Mexican Couple - the Woman - *The Old Actor* (1912), Actor - *The Lesser Evil* (1912), as The Young Woman's Companion - *A Voice from the Deep* (1912), as On Beach - *The Sands of Dee* (1912), as Mary - *Fighting Blood* (1911), Actor ## Gallery - ![Scene from The Birth of a Nation (1915) with Mae Marsh as Flora](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-420d26fae067.jpg) Scene from The Birth of a Nation (1915) with Mae Marsh as Flora — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Flora-birth-of-a-nation.jpg/1280px-Flora-birth-of-a-nation.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Warner Baxter (left) and Mae Marsh in All Woman (1918)](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-fe7d027674b6.jpg) Warner Baxter (left) and Mae Marsh in All Woman (1918) — Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Warner_Baxter_and_Mae_Marsh_in_All_Woman.jpg/1280px-Warner_Baxter_and_Mae_Marsh_in_All_Woman.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![A scene from the American drama film The Beloved Traitor (1918), with Mae Marsh. Date stamped Mar. 4, 1918. Subjects: motion pictures, actresses](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-db1f9f17cbcb.jpg) A scene from the American drama film The Beloved Traitor (1918), with Mae Marsh. Date stamped Mar. 4, 1918. Subjects: motion pictures, actresses — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/A_scene_from_%22The_Beloved_Traitor%22_%28SAYRE_13204%29.jpg/1280px-A_scene_from_%22The_Beloved_Traitor%22_%28SAYRE_13204%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Mae Marsh and Owen Moore in a scene from the film The Cinderella Man. Date stamped Dec. 29, 1917. Subjects: motion pictures, actresses, actors](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-3689cb6eaadb.jpg) Mae Marsh and Owen Moore in a scene from the film The Cinderella Man. Date stamped Dec. 29, 1917. Subjects: motion pictures, actresses, actors — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Mae_Marsh_and_Owen_Moore_%28SAYRE_13271%29.jpg/1280px-Mae_Marsh_and_Owen_Moore_%28SAYRE_13271%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Mae Marsh](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-2a3878609422.jpg) Mae Marsh — Image via TMDB - ![Mae Marsh](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-295d0c772ad6.jpg) Mae Marsh — Image via TMDB - ![Mae Marsh](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-797777d900aa.jpg) Mae Marsh — Image via TMDB - ![A scene from the American mystery film The Face in the Dark (1918). Clemmer Movie Cut April 21, 1918. Includes Mae Marsh. Subjects: motion pictures, actresses](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-77d8501992c7.jpg) A scene from the American mystery film The Face in the Dark (1918). Clemmer Movie Cut April 21, 1918. Includes Mae Marsh. Subjects: motion pictures, actresses — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/A_scene_from_%22The_Face_in_the_Dark%22_Clemmer_Movie_Cut_April_21_%28SAYRE_13485%29.jpg/1280px-A_scene_from_%22The_Face_in_the_Dark%22_Clemmer_Movie_Cut_April_21_%28SAYRE_13485%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Scene from the movie Birth of a Nation. 1915.](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-ee834309550c.jpg) Scene from the movie Birth of a Nation. 1915. — D. W. Griffith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Birth_of_a_nation%2C_1915%2C_Flora_Cameron.jpg/1280px-Birth_of_a_nation%2C_1915%2C_Flora_Cameron.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Mae Marsh](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-3f01e6b8c55a.jpg) Mae Marsh — Image via TMDB - ![Mae Marsh](https://film.one/media/person/1231769/gallery-b0540c8ed1fe.jpg) Mae Marsh — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/mae-marsh