Alfred Lunt, and Lynn Fontanne

Lunt, Alfred, 1893–1977, b. Milwaukee, and Lynn Fontanne (fŏntănˈ) [key], 1887?–1983, b. Essex, England, American acting couple. Lunt made his debut in Boston (1913), toured in vaudeville, and won fame in Booth Tarkington's Clarence in 1919. Fontanne made her London debut in 1905 and her first appearance in New York City in 1910. The couple were married in 1922 and appeared together (1924–29) in many Theatre Guild productions, including The Guardsman and Pygmalion. The Lunts first appeared in London in Caprice in 1929. They excelled especially in sophisticated modern comedy, such as Noël Coward's Design for Living (1933), Robert Sherwood's Idiot's Delight (1936), and Terence Rattigan's Love in Idleness (1944–49). The Lunts also played in weightier dramas, including There Shall Be No Night (1940) and The Visit (1957–60), their last joint appearance, and performed together in films and television plays.

See biographies by J. Brown (1986) and M. Peters (2003).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.