Anna Townsend

Townsend was born in Utica, New York. She moved from there to Los Angeles in 1885. Her film career began in 1919.^[1]

According to a 1922 profile published in the Los Angeles Evening Express, Townsend's sole acting experience prior to her brief silent screen heyday was an even briefer pre-Civil War tour of duty with the Holman Light Opera Company.^[4] This was in large part corroborated the following year by the Sacramento Bee, whose obituary for Townsend states that the actress's emergence "three years ago" constituted the first time "she [had] ever considered pursuing acting as a profession."^[3]

Married at least once and predeceased by her husband,^[5] Mrs. Townsend died on September 11, 1923, at her home in Los Angeles,^[6] apparently due to an unspecified illness contracted two months earlier while sightseeing at Yosemite National Park.^[3]

She was survived, at the very least, by one grown child, a daughter.^[7][6] Moreover, judging from a profile of Townsend published that spring, in which references made to both "grown-up children" and "grandchildren" figure prominently,^[5] there were almost certainly additional survivors.