Biography for
Lila Lee (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

25 July 1901, Union Hill, New Jersey, USA

Date of Death

13 November 1973, Saranac Lake, New York, USA (stroke)

Birth Name

Augusta Appel

Height

5' 3" (1.60 m)

Mini Biography

A performer since childhood (she was widely known then as "Cuddles"), pert and pretty, raven-haired Lila Lee was brought to Hollywood by Paramount mogul Jesse L. Lasky and debuted in a starring role with The Cruise of the Make-Believes (1918) as a poor girl supported by a rich admirer. Following her appearance as a servant wench in Cecil B. DeMille's Male and Female (1919), Paramount starting grooming her to eventually supplant the highly temperamental and troublesome Gloria Swanson. Lila's talent, however, was lighter in weight and, though she enjoyed great popularity in such films as Blood and Sand (1922) with Rudolph Valentino, Another Man's Wife (1924), The Midnight Girl (1925), Love, Live and Laugh (1929) co-starring George Jessel and The Unholy Three (1930) opposite Lon Chaney, Swanson had little to worry about. A series of bad judgments and highly publicized bouts with illness led to Lila's swift decline. She made a few dismal comebacks on stage and in TV soaps in the 1950s but to little fanfare. Her last picture was as a hayseed mom in the deservedly obscure Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers (1967). Her actor-turned-writer son James Kirkwood Jr., however, earned fame on his own for penning the play "P.S. Your Cat Is Dead" and the musical "A Chorus Line." Lila died of a stroke in 1973.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Spouse

James Kirkwood	(1923 - 1929) (divorced) 1 son
John R. Paine	(? - ?) (divorced)
John E. Murphy	(? - ?) (divorced)

Trivia

Mother of writer James Kirkwood Jr..

Her turbulent marriage to matinee-idol James Kirkwood in the 20s came very close to an "A Star Is Born" scenario. Her acting career was shooting up while his was plummeting. They divorced in 1931.

Lila's erratic screen career was triggered by severe bouts with what was euphemistically referred to as tuberculosis, but whispered to be the results of acute alcoholism.

WAMPAS Baby Star of 1922.