---
name: "Mary Alden"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/mary-alden"
fi1m_id: "mary-alden"
imdb_id: "nm0017488"
tmdb_id: 8832
wikidata_id: "Q641612"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "18 June 1883"
died: "2 July 1946"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 58
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-24T23:26:07.128559+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."
---

# Mary Alden

## Identity

Mary Alden

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/mary-alden
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** mary-alden
- **IMDb ID:** nm0017488
- **TMDB ID:** 8832
- **Wikidata ID:** Q641612
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Alden, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q641612, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0017488/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8832

Actor. Born 18 June 1883 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 2 July 1946.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 18 June 1883, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 2 July 1946
- **Active:** 1915–1916
- **Also known as:** Mary Maguire Alden
- **Average Fi1m score:** 58, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Alden, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q641612, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0017488/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8832

## Biography

Mary Alden, also credited as Mary Maguire Alden, was an American stage and film actress. Born in New York City on 18 June 1883, she began her career on Broadway, appearing in productions including *Personal* (1907) and *The Rule of Three* (1914). She later moved into motion pictures, working initially with the Biograph Company and Pathé Exchange.

Alden is best known for her role as Lydia Brown, Stoneman's mulatto housekeeper, in D. W. Griffith's *The Birth of a Nation* (1915). She also appeared in Griffith's *Intolerance* (1916) and films such as *Less Than the Dust* (1917) with Mary Pickford. After a period on stage, she returned to screen roles including Mrs Anthon in *The Old Nest* (1921) and continued working through the 1920s into the early 1930s.

Her final credited films include *Hell's House*, *Rasputin and the Empress* and *Strange Interlude*, all from 1932. Alden died on 2 July 1946 in Woodland Hills, California.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages* (1916), Fi1m 83, as Uplifter — [page](https://film.one/film/intolerance-loves-struggle-throughout-the-ages.md)
- *The Birth of a Nation* (1915), Fi1m 32, as Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia — [page](https://film.one/film/the-birth-of-a-nation.md)

## Complete filmography (80)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *I Am Not a Racist* (2019), as The Housekeeper (archive footage) (uncredited)
- *One More Spring* (1935), Actor
- *Strange Interlude* (1932), as Mary, Leeds' Maid
- *Hell's House* (1932), as Lucy Mason
- *The Bad Sister* (1931), as Minor Role (uncredited)
- *Politics* (1931), as Mary Evans
- *Girl Overboard* (1929), Actor
- *Someone to Love* (1928), as Harriet Newton
- *Ladies of the Mob* (1928), as Soft Annie
- *The Sawdust Paradise* (1928), as Mother
- *The Cossacks* (1928), as Lukashka's mother
- *Fools for Luck* (1928), as Mrs. Hunter
- *Twin Flappers* (1927), Actor
- *The Joy Girl* (1927), as Mrs. Courage
- *The Potters* (1927), as Ma Potter
- *April Fool* (1926), as Amelia Rosen
- *Lovey Mary* (1926), as Mrs. Wiggs
- *Brown of Harvard* (1926), as Mrs. Brown
- *The Earth Woman* (1926), as Martha Tilden (The Earth Woman)
- *The Plastic Age* (1925), as Mrs. Carver
- *Soiled* (1925), as Mrs. Brown
- *Under the Rouge* (1925), as Martha Maynard
- *Siege* (1925), Actor
- *The Unwritten Law* (1925), as Miss Grant
- *The Happy Warrior* (1925), as Aunt Maggie
- *Faint Perfume* (1925), as Ma Crumb
- *The Beloved Brute* (1924), as Augustina
- *Babbitt* (1924), as Mrs. Myra Babbitt
- *When a Girl Loves* (1924), as The Czarina
- *Painted People* (1924), as Mrs. Bryne
- *Pleasure Mad* (1923), as Marjorie Benton
- *The Eagle's Feather* (1923), as Delia Jamieson
- *The Steadfast Heart* (1923), as Mrs. Burke
- *The Bond Boy* (1923), as Mrs. Newboat
- *The Empty Cradle* (1923), as Alice Larkin
- *Has the World Gone Mad!* (1923), as Mrs. Bell
- *Notoriety* (1922), as Ann Boland
- *A Woman's Woman* (1922), as Densie Plummer
- *The Hidden Woman* (1922), as Mrs. Randolph
- *Man With Two Mothers* (1922), Actor
- *The Old Nest* (1921), as Mrs. Anthon
- *The Witching Hour* (1921), as Helen Whipple
- *Snowblind* (1921), as Bella
- *Honest Hutch* (1920), as Mrs. Hutchins
- *Milestones* (1920), as Rose Sibley
- *Miss Nobody* (1920), as Jason's Wife
- *Parted Curtains* (1920), as Mrs. Masters
- *The Inferior Sex* (1920), as Clarissa Mott-Smith
- *Silk Husbands and Calico Wives* (1920), as Edith Beecher Kendall
- *Erstwhile Susan* (1919), as Erstwhile Susan
- *The Broken Butterfly* (1919), as Zabie Elliot
- *The Unpardonable Sin* (1919), as Mrs. Parcot
- *The Narrow Path* (1918), as Margaret Dunn
- *The Naulahka* (1918), as Prince's Mother
- *The Land of Promise* (1917), as Gertie Marsh
- *The Argyle Case* (1917), as Nellie Marsh
- *Less Than the Dust* (1916), as Mrs. Bradshaw
- *Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages* (1916), as Uplifter — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/intolerance-loves-struggle-throughout-the-ages.md)
- *The Narrow Path* (1916), as Shirley Martin
- *Pillars of Society* (1916), as Lona Tonnesen
- *Hell-to-Pay Austin* (1916), as Doris Valentine
- *An Innocent Magdalene* (1916), as The Woman
- *Macbeth* (1916), as Lady Macduff
- *The Good Bad-Man* (1916), as Jane Stuart
- *Acquitted* (1916), as Mrs. Carter
- *Her Mother's Daughter* (1915), as Marie's Mother
- *The Lily and the Rose* (1915), as Mrs. Fairfax
- *Ghosts* (1915), as Helen Alving
- *Man's Prerogative* (1915), as Elizabeth Towne
- *The Lucky Transfer* (1915), as Helen Holland
- *The Birth of a Nation* (1915), as Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia — Fi1m 32, [page](https://film.one/film/the-birth-of-a-nation.md)
- *Another Chance* (1914), as Mrs. Mason
- *The Little Country Mouse* (1914), as Dorothy's Cousin
- *The Second Mrs. Roebuck* (1914), as Katherine Roebuck
- *Lord Chumley* (1914), as Jessie - Butterworth's Sweetheart
- *Home, Sweet Home* (1914), as The Mother
- *The Quicksands* (1914), Actor
- *Cigar Butts* (1914), Actor
- *The Battle of the Sexes* (1914), as Mrs. Frank Andrews
- *A Brass Button* (1911), as Mrs. Lowden

## Gallery

- ![Mary Alden](https://film.one/media/person/3847887/gallery-a2922a51884b.jpg) Mary Alden — Photoplay magazine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/MARY_ALDEN_From_Stars_of_the_Photoplay.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Still from the American western film The Eagle's Feather (1923) Subjects: motion pictures, actors, actresses](https://film.one/media/person/3847887/gallery-300efd3ae182.jpg) Still from the American western film The Eagle's Feather (1923) Subjects: motion pictures, actors, actresses — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/The_Eagle%27s_Feather_%28SAYRE_14645%29.jpg/1280px-The_Eagle%27s_Feather_%28SAYRE_14645%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Still from the American silent film Erstwhile Susan (1919) with Anders Randolf, Bradley Barker, Georges Renavent, and Mary Alden, on page 37 of the November 191](https://film.one/media/person/3847887/gallery-279927c305e5.jpg) Still from the American silent film Erstwhile Susan (1919) with Anders Randolf, Bradley Barker, Georges Renavent, and Mary Alden, on page 37 of the November 191 — Realart Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Erstwhile_Susan_%281919%29_-_3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Bain News Service,, publisher. Mary Alden, Jane & Kath. Lee [between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920] 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. Notes: Title from unv](https://film.one/media/person/3847887/gallery-384cbbcefbed.jpg) Bain News Service,, publisher. Mary Alden, Jane & Kath. Lee [between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920] 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. Notes: Title from unv — The Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Mary_Alden%2C_Jane_%26_Kath._Lee_LOC_18489774641.jpg/1280px-Mary_Alden%2C_Jane_%26_Kath._Lee_LOC_18489774641.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Mary Alden](https://film.one/media/person/3847887/gallery-5bcc308a9d3a.jpg) Mary Alden — Image via TMDB
- ![Mary Alden](https://film.one/media/person/3847887/gallery-c0098d416f0b.jpg) Mary Alden — Image via TMDB
- ![Mary Alden](https://film.one/media/person/3847887/gallery-b95dc18b47a1.jpg) Mary Alden — Image via TMDB
- ![Ralph Lewis as Austin Stoneman and Mary Alden as Lydia Brown in The Birth of a Nation (1915)](https://film.one/media/person/3847887/gallery-d2a97df9ceae.jpg) Ralph Lewis as Austin Stoneman and Mary Alden as Lydia Brown in The Birth of a Nation (1915) — unknown (D. W. Griffith Prod.), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Stoneman_and_Brown.jpg/1280px-Stoneman_and_Brown.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Still from an advertisement for the American silent film Erstwhile Susan (1919) with Anders Randolf, Bradley Barker, Georges Renavent, and Mary Alden, from the  (1920)](https://film.one/media/person/3847887/gallery-b8160958db39.jpg) Still from an advertisement for the American silent film Erstwhile Susan (1919) with Anders Randolf, Bradley Barker, Georges Renavent, and Mary Alden, from the  (1920) — Realart Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Erstwhile_Susan_%281919%29_-_20.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© 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/mary-alden