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Symona Boniface

American actress (1894–1950) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Symona Boniface
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Symona Ferner Boniface (March 5, 1894[1]–September 2, 1950) was an American film actress, most frequently seen in bit parts in comedy shorts, mostly at Columbia Pictures, particularly those of The Three Stooges. She appeared in 120 films between 1925 and 1950.

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Early life

Symona Boniface was born in New York City, the daughter of actor George C. Boniface and his wife, Norma (née Ferner) Boniface, an inventor. Her father was of English descent and her mother of German ancestry. Both parents were born in New York.[2]

Career

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Boniface developed an early interest in theater and participated in writing and performing for the stage. She transitioned to film in 1925, joining the Hal Roach Studios, which was known for producing short comedies. At Roach, she appeared in films alongside performers such as Charley Chase, the Our Gang children, Max Davidson, and Laurel and Hardy. Her roles typically cast her as society women, vamps, or matronly figures, due in part to her screen presence and bearing. These performances spanned both short subjects and feature films.[1]

She began appearing in Columbia Pictures' two-reel comedies in 1935 and became a frequent supporting player in the studio's short-subject unit. Boniface worked with a variety of Columbia comedians, including Andy Clyde, Monte Collins and Tom Kennedy, Buster Keaton, Hugh Herbert, Vera Vague and The Three Stooges. In Stooge comedies, her roles often placed her in contrast to the trio's physical humor. Her characters were placed in comic scenarios involving wardrobe malfunctions, pratfalls, or slapstick mishaps, such as the mouse gag in Loco Boy Makes Good (1942) or water-soaked scenes in Spook Louder (1943) and Vagabond Loafers (1949).[1]

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Symona Boniface in The Murder in the Museum (1934)

Director Edward Bernds regularly cast Boniface in larger roles in his scripts for Columbia shorts. She was featured in Micro-Phonies (1945) and continued to portray wealthy or authoritative women in comedies alongside performers such as Gus Schilling, Richard Lane, and Harry Von Zell.[1]

One of her most notable scenes occurred in Half-Wits Holiday (1947), a remake of the earlier Stooge short Hoi Polloi (1935). In the film, Moe Howard tosses a pie into the air to avoid detection, and it lands on Boniface's character, Mrs. Smythe-Smythe, after a moment of comedic suspense. The gag was considered effective enough to be reused in later shorts, including Pest Man Wins (1951), Scheming Schemers (1956), and Pies and Guys (1958), through stock footage after Boniface's death.[1]

Her final on-screen performance was in the unaired television pilot Jerks of All Trades (1949), featuring The Three Stooges and Emil Sitka.[1]

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Personal life

Boniface was married to Frank Pharr Simms, a salesman and real estate broker originally from Decatur, Georgia.[3][4]

She died from pancreatic cancer on September 2, 1950, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, at the age of 56.[1]

Selected filmography

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References

External links

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