Lynn Fontanne

Lynn Fontanne
Photograph by Carl Van Vechten, 1932
Born	Lillie Louise Fontanne (1887-12-06)6 December 1887[n 1] Woodford, Essex
Died	30 July 1983(1983-07-30) (aged 95) Genesee Depot, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Home Cemetery
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1905–1967
Spouse	Alfred Lunt ​ ​ (m. 1922; died 1977)​

Lynn Fontanne (/fɒnˈtæn/;^[1] 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983)^{[n 1]} was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred in Broadway and West End productions over the next four decades. They became known as "The Lunts", and were celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic.

Fontanne was born in what is now the London suburb of Woodford, and received her first training as an actress from Ellen Terry. After building up an acting career in Britain she worked extensively in the US, first appearing in New York in 1910. Although she appeared in classics including The Taming of the Shrew and The Seagull, experimental drama by Eugene O'Neill, and dark comedy by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Fontanne and her husband were best known for their stylish performances in light comedies by Noël Coward, S. N. Behrman, Terence Rattigan and others, and romantic plays by writers such as Robert E. Sherwood.

The Lunts retired from the stage in 1960, and lived at their home in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin, where, after outliving her husband by six years, Fontanne died at the age of 95.

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