KATHERINE CORNELL

Katherine Cornell (1893 – 1974) was an American actress dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by critic Alexander Woollcott and was the first performer to receive the Drama League Award, for Romeo and Juliet in 1935.  She starred in numerous roles on the Broadway stage and one film, the World War II morale booster Stage Door Canteen. Her most famous role was that of the English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning in the 1931 Broadway production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street.

Davis sculpted Katherine Cornell in 1930.  The life-sized head is crafted in wood, stained jet black and polished. Cornell wrote from Beekman Place, October 29, 1930 “My dear Mr. Davis: I received your note, am very pleased to hear that the bust of me has been accepted by the Salon in Paris.”  It was exhibited as part of the one-man show at the Ferargil Galleries in 1937 and at other venues.  It resides in the collection of Paul W. Johnston, Ithaca, NY.