Mrs. Anna Townsend (January 5, 1845[citation needed] – September 11, 1923) was a silent film actress who first turned to acting as a career very late in life.

[1] According to a 1922 profile published in the Los Angeles Evening Express, Townsend's sole acting experience prior to her brief silent screen heyday was an even briefer pre-Civil War tour of duty with the Holman Light Opera Company.

[4] This was in large part corroborated the following year by the Sacramento Bee, whose obituary for Townsend states that the actress's emergence "three years ago" constituted the first time "she [had] ever considered pursuing acting as a profession.

"[3] Married at least once and predeceased by her husband,[5] Mrs. Townsend died on September 11, 1923, at her home in Los Angeles,[6] apparently due to an unspecified illness contracted two months earlier while sightseeing at Yosemite National Park.

[7][6] Moreover, judging from a profile of Townsend published that spring, in which references made to both "grown-up children" and "grandchildren" figure prominently,[5] there were almost certainly additional survivors.