Women - Film Pioneers (1910s and 1920s)
by Seraphima12 | created - 20 Aug 2020 | updated - 20 Aug 2020 | PublicA list of women who have contributed tot he development of movie making in Hollywood. The list comprises of female screenwriters, film directors and film studio owners.
1. Ouida Bergère
Actress | Mates and Mis-Mates
Diminutive red-headed actress, playwright and screenwriter. Her marriage to star actor Basil Rathbone was one of the most enduring in show business, lasting from 1926 until his death in 1967. The Rathbones were legendary in the 1930's for giving the most lavish Hollywood parties at their luxurious ...
2. Clara Beranger
Writer | Cameo Kirby
Clara S. Beranger was born in Baltimore, Maryland and was a 1907 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Goucher College in Baltimore. Early in her career, she wrote some newspaper and magazine articles. On a whim, she submitted a screenplay which was accepted. She eventually found work writing for several ...
3. Aloha Wanderwell
Director | With Car and Camera Around the World
Aloha Wanderwell was born on October 13, 1906 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She was a director and writer, known for With Car and Camera Around the World (1929) and The River of Death (1933). She was married to Walter Baker and Walter Wanderwell. She died on June 4, 1996 in Newport Beach, ...
4. Hetty Gray Baker
Writer | A Daughter of the Gods
Hetty Gray Baker is known for A Daughter of the Gods (1916) and The Right Hand Path (1916).
5. Gertrude Atherton
Writer | Black Oxen
Gertrude Atherton, a famed author during the early 1900s, was always more a novelist than a screenwriter, but, amid her fame as a novelist, she was given major opportunities during the silent era when studios began turning to literary properties to adapt for the screen. A 1932 Los Angeles Times ...
6. Dorothy Arzner
Director | Christopher Strong
Dorothy Arzner, the only woman director during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood's studio system--from the 1920s to the early 1940s and the woman director with the largest oeuvre in Hollywood to this day--was born January 3, 1897 (some sources put the year as 1900), in San Francisco, California, to a ...
7. Nina Agadzhanova
Writer | Bronenosets Potyomkin
Nina Agadzhanova was born on October 27, 1889 in Yekaterinodar, Kuban Oblast, Russian Empire [now Krasnodar, Russia]. She was a writer and director, known for Battleship Potemkin (1925), Two-Buldi-Two (1929) and Deserter (1933). She died on February 14, 1974.
8. Marguerite Bertsch
Writer | The Devil's Prize
A successful playwright, Marguerite Bertsch was hired by Vitagraph in 1913 as a screenwriter. After writing several successful pictures for the studio, she was given the chance to direct, at first with a co-director (William P.S. Earle) on The Law Decides (1916), then on her own with The Devil's ...
9. Marian Constance Blackton
Writer | Hell-Bent fer Heaven
Marian Constance Blackton was born on January 18, 1901 in New York City, New York, USA. She was a writer and actress, known for Hell-Bent fer Heaven (1926), Maniac (1934) and The Redeeming Sin (1925). She was married to Laurence Trimble and Gardner James. She died on December 12, 1993 in Los ...
10. Paula Blackton
Actress | The Littlest Scout
Paula Blackton was born on August 1, 1881 in Georgia, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for The Littlest Scout (1919), A Spring Idyl (1917) and Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman (1905). She was married to J. Stuart Blackton. She died on March 27, 1930 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
11. Harriet Bloch
Writer | Prinsessens Hjerte
Harriet Bloch was born on July 26, 1881. She was a writer, known for Prinsessens Hjerte (1916), Kærligheds-Væddemaalet (1917) and Hendes Hjertes Ridder (1918). She died on April 1, 1975.
12. Cube Bonifant
Actress | La gran noticia
Cube Bonifant was born on June 13, 1904 in Rosario, Sinaloa, Mexico. She was an actress, known for La gran noticia (1923) and Santa (1932). She was married to Francisco Zamora Padilla. She died on August 16, 1993 in Mexico, D.F., Mexico.
13. Bertha Muzzy Sinclair
Writer | The Wolverine
Most fans of popular--and prolific--western novelist B.M. Bower would probably be shocked to find out that the "B.M." stood for "Bertha Muzzie", for B.M. Bower was indeed a woman. Born in Cleveland, MN, in 1871, her family moved to Montana when she was a small child and she grew up there, where she...
14. Madeline Brandeis
Director | The Star Prince
Madeline Brandeis was born on December 18, 1897 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was a producer and director, known for The Star Prince (1918), Not One to Spare (1924) and Maud Muller (1924). She was married to Dr. Joseph A. Sampson and E. John Brandeis. She died on June 28, 1937 in Gallup, ...
15. Marvin Breckinridge
Director | The Forgotten Frontier
Marvin Breckinridge was born on October 5, 1905. She was a director and cinematographer, known for The Forgotten Frontier (1931). She was married to Jefferson Patterson. She died on December 11, 2002 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
16. Beta Breuil
Writer | When a Woman Sins
Beta Breuil was born in 1876 in New York City, New York, USA. She is known for When a Woman Sins (1918), Life or Honor? (1918) and A Daughter of France (1918).
17. Zinaida Brumberg
Director | Noch pered Rozhdestvom
Zinaida Brumberg was born on August 2, 1900 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. She was a director and writer, known for Noch pered Rozhdestvom (1951), Ivashko and Baba-Yaga (1938) and Little Red Riding Hood (1937). She died on February 9, 1983 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].
18. Adele Buffington
Writer | The Duke Comes Back
Adele Buffington was born on February 12, 1900 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She was a writer, known for The Duke Comes Back (1937), West of Singapore (1933) and Jiggs and Maggie Out West (1950). She was married to Edward Vore. She died on November 23, 1973 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California...
19. Bianca Virginia Camagni
Actress | Fantasia
Bianca Virginia Camagni was born in Milan, Italy. She is known for Fantasia (1921), La piccola ombra (1916) and La sconosciuta (1921).
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