Summerville was born in
County Kildare,
Ireland and migrated to
Toronto,
Ontario, Canada as a child. She first appeared on stage at the age of 7 in an
operetta in Toronto. Summerville appeared in fourteen Broadway plays from 1885 to 1925. She authored
Why be Fat?: Rules for Weight-reduction and the Preservation of Youth and Health (1916). She was a fan of corned beef
hash and
stale bread. In 1920 she was named chairman of the New York
Women's State Democratic Committee. She fell on ice on January 3, 1934, and died on January 21 of her injuries. ==Partial filmography==