Lynn Fontanne

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Lynn Fontanne (born Lillie Louise Fontanne; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English stage actress famous for her long partnership with her husband, Alfred Lunt. They were known as The Lunts and starred together on Broadway and in London for about 40 years.

Early life
Fontanne was born in Woodford, Essex (now part of London). She trained as an actress with the help of the great actress Ellen Terry. She began acting in Britain in 1905 and later reached the United States, first appearing in New York in 1910.

Rising actor and meeting The Lunts
Fontanne had success in London and on Broadway in the 1910s and 1920s. She met Alfred Lunt in the early 1920s, and they fell in love. They married in 1922 and soon began acting together. Their first joint Broadway appearance was in 1923.

The Lunts on stage
In 1924 they joined the Theatre Guild in New York and became famous for performing clever, stylish light comedies as well as serious drama. They acted in plays by Bernard Shaw (Arms and the Man; Pygmalion; The Doctor’s Dilemma) and even in Eugene O’Neill’s Strange Interlude in 1928, where Fontanne showed great range.

A turning point was the hit design for living: Noël Coward wrote plays for all three of them, starting with Design for Living (1932), which set box-office records. They also starred in Coward’s The Design for Living sequel, but Point Valaine (1934) was a failure. The Lunts toured widely, bringing Broadway shows to many parts of America and abroad.

War and after
During World War II, Fontanne and Lunt moved to England to entertain troops and perform for audiences there. After the war, they continued acting in Broadway and London productions, including Love in Idleness (also known as O Mistress Mine) and I Know My Love. They remained a famous duo on stage through the early 1950s, with hits like Quadrille (1952–54) and The Visit (1957–58). They finally retired from the stage in the late 1950s.

Film, television and honors
Fontanne acted in only a few films, preferring the stage. She and Lunt did appear in Stage Door Canteen (1943) and won Emmy Awards in 1965 for The Magnificent Yankee. Fontanne received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1980 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. She also appeared in television and radio programs, and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Later life and death
Alfred Lunt died in 1977. Fontanne died in 1983 at age 95 in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin, and was buried next to Lunt in Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee.

Legacy
Fontanne and Lunt helped redefine American and British theatre with a natural, honest acting style and a strong, lifelong partnership. They are remembered as one of the greatest acting teams in theatre history.