Constance Binney


Constance Binney was an American stage and film actress and dancer.

Biography

Born in New York City, Binney was educated at Westover School, a private college preparatory boarding school for girls in Middlebury, Connecticut, and in Paris, France. She made her Broadway theatre debut in Saturday to Monday and the following year appeared with her actress sister, Faire Binney, in the Maurice Tourneur silent film, Sporting Life, her film debut. In 1919, she starred opposite John Barrymore in The Test of Honor. Her other Broadway credits included Oh, Lady! Lady!, 39 East, and Sweet Little Devil.
Modern assessment of her career is limited as most of her films are now lost, with only two of her films surviving in a complete form, Erstwhile Susan and The Case of Becky, along with a single reel of First Love.
Binney married Charles Edward Cotting, Jr, an investment banker, in Boston in 1926. They divorced in 1932.
Binney last performed on Broadway in 1924. She appeared on stage in London and in 1941, during the Second World War, married the British war hero, Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, who was twenty-one years her junior. However, this marriage was childless and the couple were estranged after the war ended, divorcing in 1951.

Death

Binney died in 1989 in Whitestone, Queens, New York City, aged 93.

Legacy

Binney has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located on the 6300 block of Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1918The Sporting LifeNorah Cavanagh
1919The Test of HonorJuliett Hollis
1919Erstwhile SusanBarnabetta Dreary
1919The Stolen KissFelicia Day / Octavia, her Mother
192039 EastPenelope Penn
1920Something DifferentAlice Lea
1921The Magic CupMary Malloy
1921Such a Little QueenAnne Victoria Gzbfernigambia
1921Room and BoardLady Noreen
1921The Case of BeckyDorothy Stone
1921First LoveKathleen O'Donnel
1922MidnightEdna Morris
1922The SleepwalkerSidney Fairfield
1922A Bill of DivorcementDoris Dumond
1923Three O'Clock in the MorningElizabeth Winthrop