Polly Moran (June 28, 1883 – January 25, 1952) was an American actress and comedian. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Moran started out in vaudeville, and widely toured North America, as well as various other locations that included Europe and South Africa. An attractive Irish beauty, she left vaudeville in 1914 after signing for Mack Sennett at Keystone Studios as one of his Sennett Bathing Beauties. There she honed the style of the brash loud-mouth knock-about comedian for which she later became known. She proved effective at slapstick and remained with Sennett for several years until she was signed by MGM. She partnered with the famous Broadway star Marie Dressler in The Callahans and the Murphys (1927), and the two went on to appear in several films together such as Chasing Rainbows (1930) and Caught Short (1930). After Dressler’s death in 1934 Moran’s career declined, and she only starred in low-budget comedies or B-movies. In 1940, Moran retired to her home in Laguna Beach, California but maintained an active Hollywood social life and was known for practical jokes. She once ran a failed campaign for a Laguna Beach City Council seat on a “Pro Dogs” platform.

Polly Moran made a brief comeback appearance in the Tracy-Hepburn classic comedy Adam’s Rib in 1949. After playing the role, she said, “I worked in the picture two days before I got a look at myself. I never went back.” Moran has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard. After an earlier marriage that ended in divorce in 1917, Moran married attorney Martin T. Malone in 1933. She had one child, a son, who was adopted between her two marriages. She lived at 530 Mountain Road in Laguna Beach, California. Polly Moran died of cardiovascular disease in 1952. Although a number of biographies give Moran’s date of death as being January 25, 1952, her grave marker reads, “January 24, 1952”.