Mary Freeman Byrne (née Keith) (4 October 1886 – 18 January 1961) was an American author who sometimes wrote under the pen name Marie Byrne.

Byrne was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, and trained for the stage at the Leland Powers Theatrical School in Boston. She appeared in plays with such actors of the day as Joan Davis and Donald Meek.

Mary Freeman Byrne

She gave up acting and settled in England after marrying Ferdinand Byrne, who had a medical practise in London.

Mary Freeman Byrne

Byrne wrote short stories for American and British magazines, including Modern Weekly, Charm, and Home Weekly. Byrne published her novel Softly Softly in 1958, under the pen name Marie Byrne.

Mary Freeman Byrne

Byrne died at coastal Old House Farm, West Itchenor, West Sussex England in 1961 whereas her main home was declared to be 3 Watford Home, Northwood, Middlesex. Her estate was publicly sworn at £16,673 (). Her executors were Natalie W V Wolff, Phyllis R Doyle, and Miles Austin Byrne, an actor-relative.

References

1886 births

1961 deaths

20th-century American women writers

Pseudonymous women writers

People from Brockton, Massachusetts

Writers from Massachusetts

20th-century pseudonymous writers