1880s Western Ladies
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- Silent-screen actress Ethel Clayton was a convent-educated girl from Champaign, IL, who sought work as a stage actress after finishing her education. She secured small parts here and there, but hit the big time when she went to work for the Frawley Organization, which had several touring stock companies. She got small parts at first but then began getting bigger ones until finally she was getting star billing. Howver, the advent of motion pictures soon piqued her curiosity, and a visit to a film studio aroused her interest even more. Producer Siegmund Lubin offered to star her in one of his productions, she consented--"just this one, though"--and made her film debut in "The Great Divide". However, after she saw the completed film, she consented to do another, The Lion and the Mouse (1914), and soon she had given up the stage altogether in favor of pictures. It was the beginning of a career that lasted more than 30 years and comprised more than 180 films. Her last one was The Perils of Pauline (1947), in which she had an uncredited bit part, after which she left the screen. She died in Oxnard, CA, in 1966.
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Ottola Nesmith was born on 12 December 1889 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She was an actress, known for Becky Sharp (1935), Television Spy (1939) and Four Star Playhouse (1952). She was married to Leon D'Usseau. She died on 7 February 1972 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Early information on Florence La Badie is sketchy. She is thought to have been born in New York City in 1888, and was either taken away from or given up for adoption by her birth mother. Florence was adopted by a married couple named LaBadie, who legally gave the child their last name. Her adoptive father, Joseph LaBadie, is believed to have been an attorney in Canada, and the family spent time in Montreal, where Florence grew up. She was educated in both Montreal and New York, and after graduation from high school she worked as a model for well-known illustrator (and, later, film director) Penrhyn Stanlaws.
She took up a career on the stage, first appearing there in 1908. She signed up with director Chauncey Olcott's theatrical company, and went on the road with them. In 1909 she went with a friend, Mary Pickford, to the American Biograph film studio in New York to watch Pickford at work in In the Window Recess (1909), and Pickford got her a bit part in the picture. La Badie didn't make any films for a year after that, though, at which time she signed a contract with Biograph.
In 1911 she left Biograph for Thanhouser. She met with great success in Thanhouser's pictures, and was gradually promoted to lead roles, working there from 1911-1917 (making her the player who worked at Thanhouser the longest). She became the best-known of all of Thanhouser's players and was wildly popular in fan magazines and trade journals.
Although she was engaged twice (to actor Val Hush and writer Daniel Carson Goodman), she never married. She was the "companion" of film mogul Marcus Loew for several years.
On August 28, 1917, while driving a car near Ossining, New York, with her fiancé Daniel Goodman, the car's brakes failed and it plunged down an embankment at high speed, rolling over when it hit the bottom. Goodman escaped with relatively minor injuries, but she was thrown from the car and incurred a compound fracture of the pelvis. She was taken to a hospital in Ossining, where her conditioned worsened. She died of septicemia (infection) on August 28. She was 29 years old.The Return of Draw Egan (1916). 1916.
4 westerns, 09-16.
1888 - 1917, 29.
184 acting credits, 09-17. 8 years, 21-29 years old. - Clara Williams was born on 3 May 1888 in Seattle, Washington, USA. She was an actress, known for The Criminal (1916), The Market of Vain Desire (1916) and A Cowboy's Vindication (1910). She was married to Reginald Barker and Franklyn Hall. She died on 8 May 1928 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Elisabeth Risdon was born on 26 April 1888 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940), High Sierra (1940) and Mexican Spitfire (1939). She was married to Brandon Evans and George Loane Tucker. She died on 20 December 1958 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Actress
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Florence Auer was born on 3 March 1880 in Albany, New York, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for The Bishop's Wife (1947), That Forsyte Woman (1949) and At the Crossroads of Life (1908). She died on 14 May 1962 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actress
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Sarah Padden was born on 16 October 1881 in Sunderland, England, UK. She was an actress, known for A Woman's Face (1941), The Mad Monster (1942) and Women Won't Tell (1932). She was married to George Clarence Sackett. She died on 4 December 1967 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
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Marion Leonard was born on 9 June 1881 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for What Avails the Crown (1912), The Seed of the Fathers (1913) and The Voice of the Millions (1912). She was married to Stanner E.V. Taylor. She died on 9 January 1956 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Elsie Albert was born on 20 November 1888 in North Caldwell, New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for Welcome Children (1921), Snow White and The Sleeping Beauty (1913). She was married to Harold Clarke Mathews. She died on 7 October 1981 in Oregon, USA.
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Leah Baird first made a name for herself in summer stock and traveling stock companies. After playing several leads in the William F. Brady troupe opposite Douglas Fairbanks Vitagraph signed her to a contract. Her peak years in film were from 1916-1918 at which time she was a very popular player. However, her career had faded by 1925, and she retired to concentrate on scriptwriting. Later in life, she became a bit part player.- Margaret Joslin was born on 6 August 1883 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for A Snakeville Courtship (1913), Sophie's New Foreman (1913) and Sophie's Hero (1913). She was married to Harry Todd. She died on 14 October 1956 in Glendale, California, USA.
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She was born Edna May Nutter, a child of solid New England stock, on 9th November 1883 in Malden, Massachusetts. The daughter of Ida May and Charles Edward Nutter, Edna was a descendant of the 2nd American president John Adams and his son, the 6th American president John Quincy Adams. In addition, her father's stepfather, Samuel Oliver, had a mother named Julia Adams who was descended from another John Adams (born 1724). Miss Oliver took an early interest in the stage, and she would quit school at the age of 14 to pursue her ambitions in the theater. Despite abandoning traditional schooling, Edna continued to study the performing arts, including speech and piano. One of her first jobs was as pianist with an all female orchestra which toured America around the turn of the century. By 1917 she had achieved success on Broadway in the hit play "Oh, Boy". By 1923 she had appeared in her first film. Edna May Oliver seems to have been born to play the classics of American and British literature. Some of her most memorable film roles were in adaptations of works of Charles Dickens. Although some have described her as plain or "horse faced", Edna May Oliver's comedic talents lent a beautiful droll warmth to her characters. She was usually called upon to play less glamorous roles such as a spinsters, but she played them with such soul, wit, and depth that to this day she remains one of the best loved of Hollywood's character actresses. A fine example of her comedic talent can be found in Laugh and Get Rich (1931). Here we find her playing a role almost autobiographical in nature, that of a proud woman with Boston roots who has married "down". As the plot unwinds, she is invited to a society gala despite her modest circumstances. At the gala she becomes tipsy. With a frolicsome air Edna May seems to use the role to gently mock her real self. Her slightly drunk character seizes upon a bit of flattery, and alluding to her old New England family, proudly proclaims to each who will listen, "I am a Cranston. That explains everything!". In real life, Edna May Oliver was a Nutter, and perhaps that explains everything. Edna May Oliver married stock broker David Pratt in 1928, but the marriage ended in divorce five years later. In 1939 she received an Oscar nomination for her supporting role as Widow McKlennar in the picture Drums Along the Mohawk (1939). That was to be one of her last films. Miss Oliver was struck ill in August of 1942. Although she seemed to recover briefly, she was re-admitted to Los Angeles's Cedars of Lebanon hospital in October Her dear friend actress Virginia Hammond flew out from New York to stay by her bedside. Edna May Oliver died on her 59th birthday, 9th November 1942. Virginia Hammond was with her and said, "She died without ever being aware of the gravity of her condition. She just went peacefully asleep."- Actress
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Cleo Madison began her career with a theatrical company in Santa Barbara, California, in 1910. She stayed with the company for several years, and the troupe made the rounds of vaudeville and the theater circuit. Returning to California, and tired of touring, she decided to get into the motion picture business and secured work at Universal Pictures. After playing in numerous one- and two-reelers, Universal put her into a serial, The Trey o' Hearts (1914), which achieved great success. She was given better parts, and was eventually teamed with director Otis Turner, and the films they made together were big hits. She even began to write and direct her own films, among the first women to do so, and she made everything from westerns to action pictures to tearjerkers. She eventually became a victim of her own success; she was in such demand, and put herself through such a heavy schedule, that she had a nervous breakdown in 1922, and was off the screen for more than a year. She returned, apparently fully recovered, in 1924 and made several films. Then, for reasons never explained, she simply left the business. She died in Burbank, California, in 1964 of a heart attack.- Actress
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Linda Arvidson was born on 12 July 1884 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Everyman (1913), The Scarlet Letter (1913) and The Adventures of Dollie (1908). She was married to D.W. Griffith. She died on 26 July 1949 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actress
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Widely publicized as "The Vitagraph Girl," dark-haired silent film actress Florence Turner was one of the screen's first celebrities to be called by the term "movie star." Born in New York City in 1885, she was pushed into the business at age 3 by an overzealous stage mother, performing on the vaudeville stage as Eugenie Florence. Audiences took delight in her talents as an impressionist of well-known stage actresses of the time such as Marie Dressler. Florence was a full-fledged professional by the time she hooked up with Vitagraph Studios in 1906 as a wardrobe mistress/cashier/actress.
Making her film debut in Cast Up by the Sea (1907), Turner was prominently displayed in front of the camera within a short period of time. Appearing in the company's more quality pieces, she formed a sturdy pairing with Maurice Costello and other matinée idols of the day. The diminutive, forlorn-looking performer eventually tested the acting waters in London in 1913, and was directed frequently by long-time friend Lawrence Trimble, occasionally collaborating on screenplays. She also contributed to her livelihood making appearances in music halls, still amazing audiences with her impersonations of everybody from Alla Nazimova to Charles Chaplin. She organized her own production company, Turner Films, and made more than 30 shorts, becoming the first star of the screen to take on producing chores. In 1915 she was the top box-office star.
Florence maintained a highly visible transatlantic career for nearly a decade while appearing both here and in England in everything from classic Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice (1908), Richard III (1908)) and historical epics (A Tale of Two Cities (1911), The Deerslayer (1913)) to classic drama (Far from the Madding Crowd (1915), Through the Valley of Shadows (1914), My Old Dutch (1915)). Her career started slipping after WWI, however, and by 1924 she was forced to settle permanently in Hollywood when the British film market dried up completely. At this point she had to make do as a stock player for MGM. The advent of sound was the final nail in her career's coffin, unfortunately. It was a respectful MGM that kept her on the payroll for the next decade, albeit in bit parts and extra roles.
She died practically forgotten at the Woodland Hills, California, Motion Picture Country Home in 1946 at age 61.- Winifred Greenwood was born in Genesco, New York on New Year's Day in 1885. She was 25 years old when she landed in 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910). Her career, while not lengthy, lasted until 1927, but she was able to make 34 motion pictures. Her last film that year was 'The King of Kings (1927). She died in Woodland Hills, California on November 23, 1961. She was 76 years old.
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Born in Boston to Evangeline Tomlinson and John Sinclair Macpherson. Jeanie Macperson was educated at Madame de Facq's school in Paris, the Kenwood Institute in Chicago and took dancing lessons from Theodore Kosloff. Her stage experience began when she got the lead in a school play and was awarded a gold medal by the Chicago Musical College. She made her professional debut in the musical show, "Havana", then had a part in William C. de Mille's "Strongheart", which was going out on the road. During her years as an actress Jeanie worked with Florence Lawrence and Mary Pickford. She later was given her own unit at Universal and wrote and directed as well as acted in two-reelers. After leaving Universal, she was signed by Cecil B. DeMille as a writer. According to the 1938-39 Motion Picture Almanac, she is also credited as having collaborated on Cleopatra (1934) (Paramount) and adapted "Lafitte the Pirate" (basis for The Buccaneer (1938) from Paramount). She went to Rome for direction and story supervision for ERA Productions, Vittorio Mussolini's company.- Actress
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A member of a very socially prominent Washington family, Sessions played vaudeville, radio, television and film for sixty years. Sessions made her debut in 1909 in a comic opera. She has appeared over 500 times in movies and on television. Session sang comic songs in cabarets before going to New York to act on the stage. In 1940, she went to Hollywood to appear on Bob Hope's radio show and made her West Coast film debut that same year, having already appeared in numerous films on the East Coast during the preceding decade, usually playing bit parts as aunts, landladies, gossips and the like; Sessions retired from films in 1971.- Isabel Randolph was born on 4 December 1889 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Missing Corpse (1945), The Shanghai Story (1954) and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950). She died on 11 January 1973 in Burbank, California, USA.
- Ida Moore was born on 1 March 1882 in Altoona, Kansas, USA. She was an actress, known for Johnny Belinda (1948), The Egg and I (1947) and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950). She died on 26 September 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Sylvia Ashton was born on 26 January 1880 in Denver, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for The Fourteenth Man (1920), The Love Special (1921) and Greed (1924). She died on 17 November 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Irene Outtrim was born on 17 February 1880 in Bright, Victoria, Australia. She was an actress, known for Salvation Nell (1915), The Unwritten Law (1916) and Heart of Juanita (1919). She was married to Andrew Jackson Shumate, Allen Bishop, Elmer Booth and Eric Vansittart Ernest Neil. She died on 10 April 1949 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.
- Gertrude Bondhill was born on 7 December 1879 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for The Unborn (1916), The Awakening of Bess Morton (1916) and Miss Arizona (1919). She died on 15 September 1960 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Sarah Edwards was born on 11 October 1881 in Glyn Train, Denbighshire, South Wales, UK. She was an actress, known for It's a Wonderful Life (1946), The Shop Around the Corner (1940) and The Bishop's Wife (1947). She was married to Vernon Malcolm Jacobson. She died on 7 January 1965 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Ethyl May Halls was born on 20 November 1882 in California, USA. She was an actress, known for Thou Shalt Not Kill (1939), Heroes of the Saddle (1940) and Katie Did It (1950). She was married to Frank Layton Halls. She died on 16 September 1967 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.8 westerns, 39-57.
1882 - 1967, 84. - Virginia Brissac was an actress, best known for Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Dark Victory (1939) and The Scarlet Clue (1945). Prior to her work in film and television, she had a thirty-year career as a stage actress on the West Coast stock circuit, including three years in residence with her own company in San Diego, managed by then husband John Griffith Wray. She had one daughter, Ardel Wray, by a previous marriage.
- Jessie Arnold was born on 3 December 1884 in Lyons, Michigan, USA. She was an actress, known for The Dark Mirror (1920), The Wager (1912) and Shoes (1916). She died on 5 May 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Theresa Maxwell Conover was born on 26 September 1884 in Richmond, Indiana, USA. She was an actress, known for When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922), Yolanda (1924) and The Age of Innocence (1934). She died in September 1968 in Levittown, New York, USA.
- Actress
Nora Allene Simmons was born and grew up in Zebulon, Georgia. For a time, she was a grammar school teacher in Stone Mountain. She began her career as an entertainer with a traveling Chautauqua troupe and later served as official storyteller for the Joel Chandler Harris Memorial Association in Atlanta. After briefly appearing on Broadway, she spent two years with Jane Addams at Hull House in Chicago.
In the 1920s, she became a staff artist at KGO radio in San Francisco. Although producers reportedly told her at first that she would never make it in radio or films if she did not lose her natural Southern accent, this proved not to be the case. Although she was white (Caucasian), she originated the "Colored Supplement" of NBC's Morning Magazine and wrote the "Magnolia, Henry and Charlie" episodes which provided the comedy features of the Wednesday morning program. She also wrote the Monday night feature, "Plantation Echoes".
In 1930, she accepted an invitation to Honolulu to appear as a guest artist on a radio station there. Instead, she returned to Atlanta temporarily due to homesickness. She soon returned to Los Angeles and radio, and later had several minor roles in motion pictures during the 1930s and 1940s.
Branching out into television roles, she still appeared in a few movies, even traveling to Italy in 1962 to appear as Marcello Mastroianni's grandmother in director Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963). Never having married, she retired in the late 1960s and returned to Georgia, living on Social Security until her death in 1980, aged 96.- Writer
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Ella O'Neill was born on 15 November 1885 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was a writer, known for Detective Lloyd (1932), Danger Island (1931) and Flash Gordon (1936). She died on 17 December 1984 in San Bernardino, California, USA.- Isabel La Mal was born on 16 July 1886 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Lady in a Jam (1942), College Scandal (1935) and Mary Burns, Fugitive (1935). She was married to Otto Matieson. She died on 20 July 1952 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Edythe Elliott was born on 14 July 1886 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Vacation Days (1947), High School Hero (1946) and Freddie Steps Out (1946). She was married to Charles Elven Elliott. She died on 9 April 1978 in San Diego, California, USA.
- Actress
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Maude Allen was born on 30 November 1887 in Middleborough, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for La grande mare (1930), Black Diamonds (1940) and The Moth (1917). She died on 24 April 1960 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Cecil Elliott was born on 25 October 1887 in Greenville, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Chinatown (1974), The Killing (1956) and The Lost Missile (1958). She died on 8 April 1982 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
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Jane Crowley was born on 28 November 1888 in Urbana, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for A Son of the Plains (1931) and Headin' North (1930). She died on 7 August 1970 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.- Lucile Sewall was born on 30 May 1888 in Kansas, USA. She was an actress, known for Death Valley Days (1952). She was married to Allen D. Sewall. She died on 15 December 1976 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Inez Palange was born on 13 June 1889 in Naples, Italy. She was an actress, known for Scarface (1932), One Million B.C. (1940) and Song of the City (1937). She died on 16 October 1962 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.Mrs. Garboni, Men of America (1932). 1932.
8 westerns, 6 features, 32-57.
1889 - 1962, 73. Italy. California. - Dolly Larkin was born on 19 April 1889 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Labyrinth (1915), The Broken Barrier (1914) and Black Beauty (1913). She was married to George Larkin. She died in December 1976 in Wiliston Park, New York, USA.
- Beautiful Goldie Colwell born in Kansas in 1889. began on stage in the late 1900's. Goldie appeared in few leading roles but many character and supporting roles in more than 80 westerns and comedies making her film debut in Tom Mix's 'Why the Sheriff is a Bachelor' for the Selig Film Co in 1911, later Goldie appeared in many 'Jerry' comedies directed by Milton J. Fahrney and starring George Ovey for the Cub Film Co between 1915-17, she was last on screen playing the role of Enid Montmorency in Colin Campbell's 'The Railroader' starring George Fawcett at the Triangle Film Co in 1919.