“I am of the firm opinion that actors’ early hardships are but the caviare that whets their professional appetites, and that without them the game and its results for most of us would be ‘flat, stale and unprofitable.’” — Ben F. Wilson “Broke and despondent, I was offered work as substitute for a night […]
“I want a career because I am selfish. There is something in my makeup which makes it impossible for me to live entirely for others.” — Eleanor Boardman. Source: Marjory Adams (1931) “An attractive woman is one who knows how to wear her clothes well. Part of my beauty recipe consists in giving myself […]
“I’d rather do characters than ingenues any time. I’d like to live as many lives as possible during the course of my own. And the best way I can do that, and still live on my own, is by playing them for motion pictures.” — Edna Murphy Source: Jerry Hoffman (1929)
“Wear your hair and your WALK and not your clothes and your manners, not according to style, but according to you own good sense of fitness, good taste and becomingness. It’s bad enough to affect a style of hair, no matter how unbecoming, just because it is stylish. But when it comes to wearing a […]
“I was born in New York City, but both my parents died when I was two years old. So then I went to live with my grandmother in Wisconsin. I was born in eighteen ninety-three, if you care to know.” — Cleo Ridgely Source: Pearl Gaddis (1916) “I’ve been a picture actress for six […]
HOW I BECAME A PHOTOPLAYER By Bessie Eyton October 1, 1916 I have been told that my entrance and my success in motion pictures were somewhat unusual for the reason I had no previous dramatic experience. As you know, a large majority of those prominent in the art of the silent drama were formerly players […]
Born in Louisville, KY., [Billie West] inherited the name “Billie,” with some changes, from her mother, who was called “Willie” West by her friends. She was an only girl and had two brothers. She confesses to being a tomboy…In 1910 she left home and went on the stage to begin a varied career in stock, […]
NUMBERS HER ADMIRERS BY THE MILLIONS Bessie Learn Rises to the Topmost Heights of Popularity. Aug. 15, 1915 That five feet of femininity, even “with heels” should – could – rise to such heights of popularity as has the dainty little Edison ingenue lead, Bessie Learn, is a picture paradox – but no mirage. Her […]
“A member of a family that has been prominent on the American stage for many years, Dorothy Davenport has been engaged as a regular member of the Lasky Feature Play Company, and is busy on two elaborate productions in which she has leading roles, at the studios in Hollywood, Cal….Miss Davenport is a daughter of […]
“I write mush and melodrama. I love melodrama myself, and I have no secret disrespect for my audience when I regale them with it. I don’t feel that I am at all condescending.” — Leah Baird Source: Jack Jungmeyer (1924)