Jane Cowl

Jane Cowl was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 14, 1884.

She appeared (and became a playwright) on Broadway from 1903-47; acted in The Spreading Dawn (1917) in 1917 but she stepped away from films for a long time. She concentrated on not only her stage acting, but also her career as a playwright.

Jane was one of the fine stage actresses of her time, who eventually found her way onto the silver screen in 1915 in Garden of Lies (1915).

Her husband Adolph Klauber produced several of Jane's starring vehicles, such as "Lilac Time" (1917), "Smilin' Through" (1919), "Pelleas and Melisande" (1923), and, notably, "Antony and Cleopatra" (1924). He remained a silent partner in these enterprises.

She penned five plays between 1918 and 1941.

Originated the role of Dolly Levi on Broadway in 1938, when Dolly was just a minor character in Thornton Wilder's original play "The Merchant of Yonkers." Seventeen years later, Wilder reworked the play as "The Matchmaker" with Mrs. Levi as the main character, and that became the source of the musical "Hello, Dolly!".

In 1943, 28 years after her second film, Jane returned to the big screen with a small role in Stage Door Canteen (1943).

Years later, in 1949, she was in Once More, My Darling (1949).

After 1950's The Secret Fury (1950), Jane realized she had cancer.

She died on June 22, 1950 in Santa Monica, California. She was 67 years old.