Jeanie MacPherson
Abbie Jean MacPherson (May 18, 1886 – August 26, 1946) was an American silent actress, writer and director. She is known for her collaborations with directors D. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, and was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Also recorded as Abbie Jean MacPherson
Jeanie MacPherson

Photoplay (Jul - Dec 1921) (1921) · Public domain
- Name
- Jeanie MacPherson
- Birth Name
- Abbie Jean Macpherson
- Born
- 18 May 1886
- Birthplace
- Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Died
- 26 August 1946
- Place of death
- Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Awards
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Occupation
- * Actress
- Nationality
- United States
- Honours
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Abbie Jean MacPherson (May 18, 1886 – August 26, 1946) was an American silent actress, writer and director. She is known for her collaborations with directors D. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, and was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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Note VALÉORINE
Jeanie MacPherson (1886–1946) was an American actor, actress and film actor, among other activities. Born in Boston, the actor died in Los Angeles.
Languages used include English. Jeanie MacPherson received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q452602 · wikipedia · Jeanie MacPherson
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Jeanie MacPherson • Birth Name — Abbie Jean Macpherson • Born — 18 May 1886 • Birthplace — Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. • Died — 26 August 1946 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Resting Place — Hollywood Forever Cemetery • Awards — Hollywood Walk of Fame • Occupation — * Actress • screenwriter • director • Notable Works — Her collaborations with director Cecil B. DeMille • Years Active — 1908–1917 (acting) 1913–1946 (screenwriting)
Early life
Early life
Abbie Jean MacPherson was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a wealthy family of European (Spanish, Scottish and French) descent. Her parents were John S. MacPherson and Evangeline C. Tomlinson. As a teenager, she was sent to Mademoiselle DeJacque's school in Paris, but returned to the United States when her family could no longer afford the fees. MacPherson earned a degree from the Kenwood Institute in Chicago and began working as a dancer and stage performer. MacPherson began her theatrical career as part of the chorus in the Chicago Opera House. Over the next few years, she took singing lessons and worked several theater-related jobs.
Film career
Film career
MacPherson made her film debut in the 1908 film The Fatal Hour, directed by D. W. Griffith. She acted in many controversial roles in which she portrayed characters of ethnicities other than her own; due to her dark hair, she was often cast in Gypsy or Spanish roles. From 1908 to 1917, she amassed 146 acting credits. She saw her time with Griffith as her "first glimmer of the possibilities in the new industry [and] from those days on [she had] seen a variety of attitudes toward the scriptwriters." • Illustration — A young Jeanie After working with Griffith, MacPherson began working with the Universal Company, where she starred in more prominent roles. In 1913, she wrote, directed and starred in The Tarantula, about a Spanish-Mexican girl, known as the Tarantula, who seduced men before killing them. With this film, she became the youngest director in motion picture history. The Tarantula is the only film she directed. MacPherson continued working for the Universal Company for two years, until her failing health caused her to leave. Upon her recovery, MacPherson began working for Lasky Studios; however, she quickly sought out Cecil B. DeMille to see if she could act in his films. He told her, "I am not interested in star MacPherson, but I am in writer MacPherson"; and from that point on, she focused on writing. DeMille and MacPherson formed a partnership that some scholars consider to be one of the industry's most influential and long-lasting. MacPherson wrote the scripts for 30 of DeMille's next 34 films. Some of their most notable collaborations are Rose of the Rancho (1914) starring Bessie Barriscale, The Girl of the Golden West starring Mabel Van Buren, The Cheat (1915) starring Sessue Hayakawa, The Golden Chance (1915) starring Wallace Reid, Joan the Woman (1916) starring Geraldine Farrar, A Romance of the Redwoods (1917) with Mary Pickford, The Little American again starring Pickford, and The Woman God Forgot (1917) again starring Farrar. • Illustration — (L-R): Jeanie MacPherson, Florence Lawrence, John Cumpson and Tony O'Sullivan in Mrs. Jones Entertains (1909) In 1921, MacPherson told a reporter, "I shall always be grateful for Mr. DeMille's assistance. He is a hard taskmaster, and he demands that a thing shall be perfect... It was hard, but it taught me that anything worth doing at all was worth doing perfectly." MacPherson believed that motion picture owed its psychology to D. W. Griffith and its dramatic picture scenario construction to DeMille. In 1927, she became a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Personal life
Personal life
MacPherson and DeMille's relationship was met with speculation for years. DeMille's niece, Agnes de Mille, later confirmed that MacPherson was one of her uncle's three mistresses. • Illustration — Cecil B. DeMille MacPherson was a pilot and sought to take daily flights. She was the only woman to pilot the plane of Ormer Locklear. In 1946, MacPherson became ill with cancer while researching Unconquered (1947), a historical drama, and had to stop work. She died that August in Los Angeles at age 60 and was buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6150 Hollywood Blvd.
As Performer
As Performer
• Year — Films — Credit — Notes • 1909 — Schneider's Anti-Noise Crusade — Performer — Short • 1910 — A Mohawk's Way — Performer — Short • 1911 — The Lonedale Operator — Performer — Short • 1911 — Fisher Folks — Performer — Short • 1915 — The Black Box — Performer — Serial
Identity
Identity
Jeanie MacPherson is recorded as actress, screenwriter and film director.

Director William C. deMille, screenwriters Jeanie MacPherson and Elinor Glyn, and director Cecil B. DeMille, on page 36 of the December 11, 1920 Exhibitors Herald.
Exhibitors Herald (Oct. - Dec. 1920) on the Internet Archive
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1946
Jeanie MacPherson died at Los Angeles.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Boston.
Birth place
Los Angeles.
Death place
As Writer
• Year — Films — Credit — Notes • 1913 — The Sea Urchin — Scenario — Short also performer • 1913 — Red Margaret, Moonshiner — Scenario — Short • 1914 — The Lie — Scenario — Short • 1914 — The Desert's Sting — Scenario — Short also performer • 1914 — The Trap — Scenario — Short also performer • 1915 — Chimmie Fadden Out West — Screenplay • 1915 — Carmen — Scenario — co-written with William DeMille • 1915 — Temptation — Scenario — co-written with Hector Turnbull & C.B. DeMille • 1915 — The Captive — Story — co-written with C. B. DeMille • 1915 — The Cheat — Scenario — co-written with Hector Turnbull • 1916 — The Golden Chance — Story — co-written with C.B. DeMille • 1916 — The Love Mask — Story • 1916 — The Trail of the Lonesome Pine — Story — credited as Jeanne MacPherson, co-written with C.B. DeMille • 1916 — The Dream Girl — Scenario • 1916 — The Heart of Nora Flynn — Scenario — co-written with Hector Turnbull • 1916 — Joan the Woman — Scenario — co-written with William DeMille • 1917 — The Little American — Story & Scenario — co-written with C.B. DeMille • 1917 — The Woman God Forgot — Story — co-written with William DeMille • 1917 — The Devil-Stone — Scenario — co-written with Beatrice deMille & Leighton Osmun • 1917 — A Romance of the Redwoods — Story — co-written with C.B. DeMille • 1918 — Old Wives for New — Scenario — co-written with C.B. DeMille • 1918 — Till I Come Back to You — Scenario • 1918 — The Whispering Chorus — Scenario • 1919 — For Better, For Worse — Scenario — co-written with William DeMille • 1919 — Don't Change Your Husband — Scenario • 1919 — Male and Female — Scenario • 1920 — Something to Think About — Story • 1921 — The Affairs of Anatol — Scenario • 1921 — Forbidden Fruit — Story • 1922 — Saturday Night — Story & Scenario • 1922 — Manslaughter — Adaptation • 1923 — Adam's Rib — Scenario • 1923 — The Ten Commandments — Scenario • 1924 — Triumph — Adaptation • 1925 — The Golden Bed — Screenplay • 1925 — The Road to Yesterday — Adaptation • 1926 — Red Dice — Adaptation • 1926 — Her Man o' War — Scenario — co-written with Charles A. Logue • 1926 — Young April — Adaptation — co-written with Douglas Z. Doty • 1927 — The King of Kings — Story & Continuity • 1929 — Dynamite — Dialogue • 1929 — The Godless Girl — Story — co-written with Ernest Pascal • 1930 — Madam Satan — Screenplay • 1933 — The Devil's Brother — Adaptation • 1935 — The Crusades — Treatment • 1938 — The Buccaneer — Adaptation • 1941 — Land of Liberty — Narration • 1948 — Unconquered — Scenario
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Abbie Jean Macpherson - Massachusetts Births. FamilySearch.
- 2.Clark, Randall. American Screenwriters. Dictionary of Literary Biography. 44. 2nd. 185. 1986.
- 3.Casella, Donna. Feminism and the Female Author: The Not So Silent Career of the Woman Scenarist in Hollywood - 1896-1930, tandfonline.com; accessed December 19, 2016.
- 4."Lowry, Carolyn. The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen"
- 5.Jeanie Macpherson profile. Women Film Project.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q452602: Jeanie MacPhersonWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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