A Tribute to Katherine Perry

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A Tribute to Katherine Perry

Born Katherine Perry in New York City on January 5, 1897, a Ziegfeld Follies show girl as Katherine was a natural for a screen career, despite a limited talent as an actress. 

Katherine came to director D.W. Griffith’s attention and with her mother visited his Mamaroneck Studios on Long Island. 

However, Katherine was disappointed when her participation was limited to that of of one of the attractive young ladies partying with Lowell Sherman. Griffith did, however, give her one close-up, and that may have lead to Katherine’s making her first credited screen performance as Miss Hollander in Lewis J. Selznick’s production of Sooner or Later (1920).

The leading man in Sooner or Later (1920) was Owen Moore (Mary Pickford’s first husband). Katherine did not play opposite him, but in her second film with Owen Moore, The Chicken in the Case (1921) she was his leading lady. Katherine married Owen Moore on July 16, 1921, and embarked on a domestic life that was as comic as the farces in which the two appeared on screen. 

Owen Moore was brother to Matt and Tom, all of whom were from Ireland. Aside from The Chicken in the Case (1921), Katherine co-starred with Owen in A Divorce of Conscience (1921) and Love Is an Awful Thing (1922) for Lewis J. Selznick, and Husbands for Rent (1927) at Warner Bros. 

Katherine starred opposite Mat Moore in The First Year (1926) and Early to Wed (1926) released by Fox. Katherine’s first talkie was Side Street (1929), a crime drama released by RKO starring all three of the Moore brothers, but with Tom rather than Owen as her romantic interest. After Side Street (1929) there were no more featured roles. Owen Moore died at the couple’s Beverly Hills home on June 9, 1939 of a heart attack at the age of 52. Katherine continued to act on screen through 1951, but her roles were always uncredited bits such as that of a socialite in My Man Godfrey (1936). Toward the end of her life Katherine admitted that she didn’t think she did anything very well, but she was happy all the time. Katherine died at the Motion Picture Country Hospital on October 14, 1983. She was 86 years old, and had aged from a beautiful brunette to a gray-haired old lady with a risqué sense of humor.

Katherine appeared in a total of thirty-six films from 1920-1936, and most of them were credited as Kathryn Perry.

Silent Film Star: Esther Ralston.

Esther Ralston (September 17, 1902 – January 14, 1994), who at her peak, was called "The American Venus" by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. While performing as a dazzling beauty queen in the film, The American Venus. A decade later, Esther Ralston career, began to fade.

Video: A scene from the silent movie, WomanHanded (1925). With Esther Ralston and Richard Dix, who is mostly remembered for his Westerns. The film is about a New York City playboy, Bill Dana, who can not resist the the girls, so... he decides to head out west to his uncle's ranch in Wind River, Texas. But the gold-diggers follow close behind...

Silent Film Star: Agnes Ayres.

Agnes Ayres (April 4, 1898 – December 25, 1940), began her career in 1914 when she was cast as an extra in a crowd scene. After moving to New York City with her mother to follow her acting career, Ayres was spotted by actress Alice Joyce. Joyce noticed the physical resemblance the two shared which led to Ayres being cast in Richard the Brazen (1917), as Joyce's character's sister.

Alice Joyce

After Paramount Pictures founder Jesse Laksy, began to take an interest in her. Lasky gave her a starring role in the Civil War drama, Held by the Enemy (1920), after which she began performing in several of Cecil B. DeMille films.

It was during this time that Ayres married, and quickly divorced, Captain Frank P. Schuker, an army officer whom she had wed during World War I. She also began a romance with Lasky.

In 1921, Ayres shot to stardom when she was cast as Lady Diana Mayo, an English heiress opposite "Latin lover" Rudolph Valentino in, The Sheik. A silent romance film produced by Famous Players-Lasky, directed by George Melford. With Rudolph Valentino, Agnes Ayres, and Adolphe Menjou. It was based on the bestselling romance novel The Sheik by Edith Maude Hull. In the sequel, Son of the Sheik, Valentino played both the Sheik and his son, Ayres reprised her role. It was Valentino's final film.

Please click here to watch the silent film: The Sheik.

Following the release of The Son of the Sheik, she went on to have major roles in the films:

The Affairs of Anatol (1921) A silent drama directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Print survival is at the Library of Congress and as with most surviving DeMille silents the, George Eastman House.

Socialite Anatol Spencer, becomes bored with his wife and goes in search of excitement. After bumping into old flame Emilie, he rents an apartment for her... only, to find that she cheats on him. After he is robbed and conned, he decides to return to his wife and discovers she has taken up with his best friend Max.

Forbidden Fruit (1921). Drama, directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It is a remake of the 1915 film The Golden Chance, which was also directed by DeMille. The film survives in prints at the George Eastman House and the Library of Congress.

Cecil B. DeMille's epic, The Ten Commandments (1923). Cast: Theodore Roberts as Moses, Charles de Rochefort as Pharaoh Ramesses, Estelle Taylor as Miriam the sister of Moses, and James Neill as Aaron, the brother of Moses.

The cast also included notable silent film actors: Nita Naldi, Leatrice Joy, Rod La Rocque, Richard Dix, Edythe Chapman and Agnes Ayres. The film is a woderful spectacle of early Hollywood filmmaking, with the Exodus scenes photographed in early Technicolor.

While the first half of the film tells the biblical story, the second half is set in modern times. The film is the first in DeMille's biblical trilogy followed by, The King of Kings (1927) and The Sign of the Cross (1932). The movie was released by Paramount Pictures and premiered at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on December 4, 1923.

By 1923, Ayres' career began to fade following the end of her relationship with Jesse Lasky. She married Mexican diplomat S. Manuel Reachi in 1924. The couple had a daughter before divorcing in 1927.

In 1929, Ayres lost her fortune and real estate holdings in the Crash of ’29. That same year, she also appeared in her last major role in, The Donovan Affair. A comedic murder-mystery film directed by Frank Capra. After the lights go out at a fancy party, Jack Donovan turns up dead. Inspector Killian, is called to investigate.  He sets up an re-enactment of the events leading up to the murder. The lights go out, and another person turns up dead. Inspector Killian again calls for a re-enactment....

She left acting and played the vaudeville circuit for a short time. She later returned to acting in 1936, but landed only uncredited parts. She retired from acting for good in 1937.

Silent Film Star: Betty Compson and her video gallery.

Betty Compson (March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974), father died when she was young, and she dropped out of school to earn a living for herself and her mother. She landed a job as a violinist in a Salt Lake City, Utah, theater.

After, Compson made 25 short films in 1916. She performed in, The Miracle Man (1919). A dramatic film based on a 1914 play by George M. Cohan, which  is based on the novel of the same title by Frank L. Packard. Cast: Thomas Meighan, Betty Compson, and Lon Chaney. The film made overnight successes of the three stars..

In 1920, she began to run her own company. She worked at the Hollywood Brunton studio and acquired three stories for films. Her first movie as producer was, Prisoners of Love (1921). She played the role of Blanche Davis, a girl born to wealth and cursed by beauty.

Next she went on to complete the film, The Woman With Four Faces (1923), she then signed on with a London, England motion picture company. There she starred in a series of four films directed by Graham Cutts.

The first of these was a movie version of an English play called, Woman to Woman (1924), the screenplay for which was co-written by Cutts and Alfred Hitchcock.

In 1928, she performed in Court-Martial as Belle Starr. A silent film directed by George B. Seitz, starring Jack Holt and Frank Austin as Abraham Lincoln. One sequence was filmed in an early Technicolor process. It is unclear whether the film survives in full or in part, or is a lost film. She also performed in the silent film The Barker, which contained some talking scenes.

Compson, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in the silent film, The Barker. A romantic drama, which tells the story of a woman who comes between a man and his estranged son. Cast: Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill, Betty Compson, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Directed by George Fitzmaurice.

Soon after, she became one of the busiest actors in the new talking cinema. Unlike a number of other female stars of silent film, her voice recorded well. Although she was not a singer, she performed in musicals, in which her singing voice was dubbed.

One of her most revered silent films was the drama, The Docks of New York (1928), best known for its dark visual ambiance and superb performances. Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Cast: George Bancroft, Betty Compson, and Baclanova.

The story is about a strong ship stoker name Bill and the beautiful woman named Mae, who he saves from drowning. She was attempting suicide, because she was ashamed living out her life as a prostitute. They get "married" the same night they meet.

The next morning Bill must go back to sea. Mae is upset when he tells her that he was "just having a good time" and wasn't serious. She is later accused of stealing clothes from a store (which he stole in order for her to have clothes to wear). He decides to stay and takes the sixty-day punishment for her.

In 1930, she made a version of, The Spoilers in which she played. The role later portrayed by Marlene Dietrich in the 1942 remake, while Gary Cooper played the part in the later film by John Wayne, perhaps the only time that Cooper and Wayne played the same role.

One major film in which she did not appear was, Gone With the Wind. Although she shot a Technicolor screen test for the role of Belle Watling, she was not cast in the role.

Compson's, last film was Here Comes Trouble (1948). She retired following that film and helped her husband run a business called "Ashtrays Unlimited".

Please click here to view her video gallery.

A Tribute to Lois Wilson

A Tribute to Lois Wilson Born in Pittsburgh on June 28, 1894, Lois Wilson was the most famous of four sisters who entered films. The others were Connie Lewis, Diana Kane and Janice Wilson.

Lois made her debut in director Lois Weber’s The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916) after winning a beauty contest organized by Universal. Under contract to Universal, Lois moved to Los Angeles and established herself as J. Warren Kerrigan’s leading lady. Lois was not too impressed with Kerrigan’s performance opposite her in The Covered Wagon (1923) and felt that John Holt would have been better suited for the role.

In 1919, Lois signed a long-term contract with Famous Players-Lasky, with whom she remained until 1926, and for whom she contributed her finest screen performances. Lois had the second female lead after Leatrice Joy in Cecil B. De Mille’s Manslaughter (1922) Lois also had the second female lead after Pola Negri in Bella Donna (1923). Lois was the love interest in Edward Everett Horton’s Ruggles of Red Gap (1923). Lois went to Ireland to play opposite Thomas Meighan in Irish Luck (1925) Lois appeared with her sister Diana Kane opposite Ben Lyon in Bluebeard’s Seven Wives (1925), and starred opposite Ford Sterling and Louise Brooks in The Show-Off (1926). She was also Richard Dix’s leading lady in Let’s Get Married (1926). In the Rudolph Valentino vehicle, Monsieur Beaucaire (1924), Lois played Queen Marie of France and Lowell Sherman was King Louis XV.



In all, Lois appeared in more than thirty Paramount features. She found particular enjoyment in seven produced at the company’s Astoria, New York studios.



During the 1930’s, Lois alternated between leads and supporting roles in pictures. She appeared in a small role with Bette Davis in Seed (1931). At Warner Brothers in 1932 and 1933, she had supporting roles in The Crash (1932) and Female (1933) starring Ruth Chatterton. Lois also had a small part in The Age of Love (1931) which was produced by Howard Hughes and starred Billie Dove. Lois also did Divorce in the Family (1932) with Conrad Nagel and Jackie Cooper for MGM. Lois had a small part in No Greater Glory (1934) at Columbia with Ralph Morgan. She also did Bright Eyes (1934) at Fox with Shirley Temple. In a film career that spanned from 1916 to 1949, Lois appeared in over one hundred films, and her last screen appearance was as Virginia Mayo’s mother in The Girl from Jones Beach (1949). Lois went on to work in television and on stage.

It’s interesting to note that when Bette Davis became an established star, she wrote in a book she autographed to Lois Wilson-“To Lois Wilson, the first star I ever worked with-Love, Bette Davis.”



Lois never married, and during her later years, she suffered severe memory loss. Eventually, Lois relocated to a niece’s home in Reno, Nevada where she died on March 3, 1988. Lois was 93 years old.-

Silent Film Star: Jean Arthur.

Jean Arthur (October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991). Was discovered by Fox Film Studios while she was doing commercial modeling in New York City in the early 1920's, Arthur landed a one-year contract and debuted in the silent film, Cameo Kirby (1923), directed by John Ford. It was Ford's first film credited as John Ford instead of Jack Ford.

Following the small role in Cameo Kirby, she received her first female lead role in, The Temple of Venus (1923), a plot-less film about a group of dancing nymphs. Not thinking she was sexy enough, the film's director Henry Otto replaced Arthur with actress, Mary Philbin during the third day of shooting. Arthur, agreed with the director and was planning on leaving acting for good, but stayed due to her contract and performed in many comedy shorts.

After awhile, Arthur, began to really enjoy acting and was looking for her big break, registered herself as a photo player in the Los Angeles city directory, as well as appearing in a promotional film for the Encino nightclub.

Her luck began to turn around when she showed up at the lot of Action Pictures, which produced B westerns, and impressed Lester F. Scott Jr. He cast her in over twenty westerns in a two-year period. The films were shot on location, under harsh conditions.

She also performed in independent westerns: The Drug Store Cowboy (1925), and westerns for Poverty Row, as well as having an uncredited bit part in Buster Keaton's.. Seven Chances (1925). In 1927, Arthur attracted more attention when she performed with Mae Busch and Charles Delaney as a gold digging chorus girl in, Husband Hunters and the film, Horse Shoes (1927).

Director Richard Wallace ignored Fox's wishes to cast a more experienced actress by placing Arthur to the female lead in, The Poor Nut (1927), a college comedy. In which she received poor reviews.

She landed a small role in, Warming Up (1928), a film produced for a big studio, Famous Players-Lasky. The film received a lot of media attention, because it was the studio's first sound film, which resulted in Arthur receiving good reviews for her performance.

The success of Warming Up, resulted in Arthur being signed on a three-year contract with the studio, soon to be known as Paramount Pictures.

After realizing that sound films was not just a phase, she met with sound coach Roy Pomeroy. Her all-talking film debut was, The Canary Murder Case (1929), in which she co-starred with William Powell and Louise Brooks. A crime/mystery film directed by Malcolm St. Clair and Frank Tuttle. Based on novel, The Canary Murder Case by S.S. Van Dine.

Arthur is best-remembered for her well known performances in her three Frank Capra films: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can't Take It With You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).

Her last performance was the non–comedic—role as the rancher's wife in the western, Shane(1953).

Arthur was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1944 for her performance in, The More the Merrier (1943).

Video: Full movie. The Canary Murder Case (1929).

Silent Film Star: Loretta Young.

Loretta Young (January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000). Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, as Gretchen Young. At confirmation, she took the name Michaela. She and her family moved to Hollywood when she was three years old.

She was signed to a contract by John McCormick (1893-1961), husband and manager of actress Colleen Moore, who saw the young girl's potential. The name "Loretta" was given to her by Colleen, who named her after her favorite doll.

Young was billed as Gretchen Young in the silent film, Sirens of the Sea (1917). It was not until 1928 that she was first billed as "Loretta Young" in The Whip Woman.

That same year she co-starred with Lon Chaney in the film, Laugh, Clown, Laugh. (pictured above)

In 1930, Young, then 17, eloped with 26-year-old actor Grant Withers(pictured above) and married him in Yuma, Arizona. The marriage was annulled the next year, just as their second movie together (appropriately titled Too Young to Marry) was released.

Loretta Young and her sisters Polly Ann and Elizabeth Jane.

Loretta Young and her family moved to Hollywood when she was three years old. She and her sisters Polly Ann and Elizabeth Jane (screen name Sally Blane) worked as child actresses.

Loretta Young (January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was a child actress, she had a film career from 1917 to 1953. She won the 1948 best actress Academy Award for her role in, The Farmer's Daughter(1947), and received an Oscar nomination for her role in, Come to the Stable(1949).

Young moved onto television, where she had The Loretta Young Show, from 1953 to 1961. The series earned three Emmy Awards, and reran successfully on daytime TV and later in syndication.

Young, a devout Roman Catholic, worked with various Catholic charities after her acting career.

Sally Blane (July 11, 1910 – August 27, 1997), was the sister of actresses Polly Ann and Loretta Young, and half-sister to actress Georgiana Young, the wife of actor Ricardo Montalban.

She had her film debut at the age of seven in the, Sirens of the Sea(1917).

She returned to the film business as an adult in the 1920s where she played small parts in silent films: Once a Sinner (1930), A Dangerous Affair (1930), Arabian Knights (1931), Anabelle's Affairs (1931), Hello Everybody! (1933), City Limits (1934), Against the Law (1934), The Silver Streak (1934), and This Is the Life (1935).

Some of her scenes, including one in, Annabell's Affairs, which she wore lingerie with Jeanette MacDonald and Joyce Compton, pre-dating the Hays Code.

Blane performed in over 100 films. She did perform with her sisters in the classic film, The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939).

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell is a fictionalized 1939 biographical film of the famous inventor. The film stars Don Ameche as Bell and Loretta Young as Mabel, his wife, who contracted scarlet fever at an early age and became deaf. The first half of the film concentrates on his romantic, financial, and scientific struggles, starting in 1873. Most scenes are set in Boston and a few scenes are set in London.

After that Blane performed in only four more movies in supporting roles: Fighting Mad (1939), Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939), La Fuga (1944) and A Bullet for Joey (1955).

Blane married actor and director Norman Foster in October 1935, eight months later in June 1936 they had their first child Gretchen named after her sister Loretta Young. They had two children, Robert and Gretchen.

Blane died of cancer, as had her sisters Polly and Loretta, in 1997 at the age of 87.

Polly Ann Young (October 25, 1908 – January 21, 1997). Of the three sisters, Polly Ann was the least successful. Between 1917 and 1941 she featured in 34 movies, some of them minor uncredited roles.

Among her best movie roles, was as John Wayne's leading lady in, The Man From Utah (1934). Her last film was the 1941 Poverty Row horror movie Invisible Ghost with, Bela Lugosi.

Young married Carter Hermann in 1935, and they had four children. Her husband died in the 1970s and she died of cancer at the age of 88. Her sisters Sally and Loretta also died of cancer. She was a half-sister to Georgiana Young Montalban, wife of actor Ricardo Montalban.

A Tribute to Neil Hamilton

A Tribute to Neil Hamilton

Born in Lynn, Massachusetts on September 9, 1899, Neil Hamilton was a sometime player in stock and a model for Arrow shirts in magazine ads. Neil got his first film role in 1918, but received his big break from D.W. Griffith in The White Rose (1923) with Carol Dempster, one of Griffith’s actresses. Neil also starred with Carol Dempster in America (1924) and Isn’t Life Wonderful? (1924) before he was signed by Paramount in the late 1920’s.

  In the late 1920’s, Neil became one of the studio’s most popular leading man. Some of the films he starred during the mid to late 1920’s were Beau Geste (1926), The Great Gatsby (1926) Diplomacy (1926), The Joy Girl (1927) and Why Be Good? (1929). Neil easily transitioned into sound films in The Love Trap (1929), a part silent, part talkie. He was very busy throughout the 1930’s playing leading man to many female stars of the day like Jean Arthur in The Return of Fu Manchu (1930), Marian Nixon in Ex-Flame (1930), Alice White in The Widow from Chicago (1930), Norma Shearer in Strangers May Kiss (1931), Joan Crawford in Laughing Sinners (1931), Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932), Constance Bennett in What Price Hollywood? (1932) and Two Against the World (1932), Myrna Loy in The Animal Kingdom (1932) Maureen O’Sullivan in Tarzan, The Ape Man (1932) and Ann Sothern in Blind Date (1934) and many more films until the 1940’s when he couldn’t find A-level work in Hollywood and he was reduced to working in B films.

A staunch Catholic, Neil later claimed that his faith got him through this difficult period. When television came along, Neil hosted Hollywood Screen Test (1948-1953) and did guest shots on numerous series of the 1950’s and 1960’s such as seven episodes of Perry Mason with Yvonne Craig who would go on to play Neil’s daughter in the Batman series of the 1960’s. Neil also appeared in episodes of Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip, as well as Maverick, Mister Ed, and The Outer Limits in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Neil is best remembered as Police Commissioner Gordon in the Batman series of the 1960’s, and appeared in all 120 episodes of Batman.

Neil was married to Elsa Whitmer from 1922 until his death in 1984 of an asthma attack. The couple had one son. Neil was actually a distant cousin of Margaret Hamilton, best known for playing The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

I think Neil was a versatile actor that was very effective in playing cads as well as romantic leads. I like the way he had a respectable career in silent and pre-code films and a busy career as a character actor after the 1940’s. Neil’s career spanned from 1918- 1971.