Malvina Longfellow (March 30, 1889 – November 2, 1962) was a stage and silent movie actress of the early 20th century.
Born in the city of New York, Malvina's mother was Julia Langfelder and her sister was Lilyan Cohen. Longfellow attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. She was a member of the senior class of 1908 – 1909.
In December 1909 Longfellow was in The Watcher, a play with a psychic theme, staged in Baltimore, Maryland. Written by Cora Maynard, the presentation featured the actors Cathrine Countiss, Percy Haswell, Thurlow Bergen, and John Emerson. It was enacted at the Auditorium Theater, produced by the Shubert brothers. The plot is carried out in four acts and has to do with an impoverished New York family, the Kents. Their mother influences their lives after dying early in the play. In January 1910 the theatrical drama of spiritism played the Shubert Theater on 41st Street between Broadway (Manhattan) and 6th Avenue.
Longfellow was part of a program of entertainment at the Century Theatre for British-American War Relief, in January 1916. Kitty Gordon, Eleanor Painter, Eugene Ormonde, and Paul Draper were also a part of the event. By 1916 Longfellow was married to a British officer who had served in the Dardanelles for six months in 1915.
She was in motion pictures beginning in 1917 with a role in The Will of the People. Her many film appearances include parts in Adam Bede (1918), The Romance of Lady Hamilton (1919), Calvary (1920), Moth and Rust (1921), Phroso (1922), The Wandering Jew (1923), The Indian Love Lyrics (1923), and The Celestial City (1929). German producer, Ernst Lubitsch, wanted her to make a movie about Lord Nelson in 1921. She was to star as Lady Hamilton opposite Reinhold Scheunzel.
Longfellow gave testimony to a coroner's inquest in London, England, in January 1919. The coroner's jury found Reggie De Veulle guilty of supplying British actress, Billie Carleton, with cocaine. Carleton was discovered dead in her London hotel in December 1918. Longfellow testified that she knew of Carleton's addiction to drugs and had tried unsuccessfully to counsel her to stop using them. Longfellow told the court that she asked De Veulle to quit providing Carleton with drugs. She told him on the night of Armistice Day that there would be trouble if he continued to do so.
E.O. Hoppé, an international beauty expert and photographer, selected Longfellow as one of the world's most beautiful women, in November 1922. An Englishman, Hoppe was quoted as saying, Of all the women in the world the English and American women are the most beautiful. The superiority of the American eyes with their jol de vivre balances the English superiority of ankles and coiffure. Others picked by him were Marion Davies, Mrs. Lydig Hoyt, Lady Lavery, and Viscountess Maidstone.
Julia Langfelder died in 1938. Her funeral was conducted at Riverside Memorial Chapel, 76th Street, and Amsterdam Avenue, New York City, on April 19. She was survived by her daughters, Longfellow and Cohen.
Malvina died in London, England in 1962 at the age of 73.
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