Motion Picture Magazine "Hall of Fame" Poll (1918)
by cts-6 | created - 30 Aug 2016 | updated - 31 Aug 2016 | PublicDuring 1918, Motion Picture Magazine ran a poll of its readers, asking them for their picks of movie stars, with the top 12 to be the inaugural class inducted into a proposed Motion Picture Hall of Fame in Washington, DC. Their concept of a Hall was based on the Hall of Fame of Great Americans that is currently located on the campus of Bronx Community College in New York. Readers were provided with entry forms in the February through October issues; they could enter up to twelve names, but they also had to include their names and address to discourage vote padding. After the results were published in the December issue, the magazine's editors rarely mentioned the Hall again, and the proposed Hall was never built, although the Hollywood Walk of Fame now fills that role. Names are presented in the order that they appeared on the list; the number appearing with each name is the total vote tally that each star received. Four names towards the end of the list have no corresponding IMDb files. Only those with a minimum of 5,000 votes were listed. (And, yes, Charlie Chaplin really did only manage a 17th place showing, while Lillian Gish tied with George Beban for 64th place on the list, and other prominent stars of the silent film era -- most notably Gloria Swanson -- didn't make the list at all.)
1. Mary Pickford
Actress | Coquette
Mary Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Elsie Charlotte (Hennessy) and John Charles Smith. She was of English and Irish descent. Pickford began in the theater at age seven. Then known as "Baby Gladys Smith", she toured with her family in a number of theater ...
159,199
2. Marguerite Clark
Actress | Scrambled Wives
In the 1910s, waifs and child-women like Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish and Mary Miles Minter were dominant forces at America's box offices. Audiences welcomed Marguerite Clark into this group, especially those who preferred her dark brown hair and large brown eyes to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed ...
138,852
3. Douglas Fairbanks
Actor | The Thief of Bagdad
Douglas Fairbanks was born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman in Denver, Colorado, to Ella Adelaide (nee Marsh) and Hezekiah Charles Ullman, an attorney and native of Pennsylvania, who was a captain for the Union forces during the Civil War. Fairbanks' paternal grandparents were German Jewish immigrants, ...
132,228
4. Harold Lockwood
Actor | The Promise
A former salesman and vaudeville and stage actor, Harold Lockwood was one of the earliest romantic stars of American films. He was paired with Mary Pickford, Kathlyn Williams and Dorothy Davenport, among others, but his most popular films had him as the lover of May Allison, and they became one of ...
129,990
5. William S. Hart
Actor | The Money Corral
A storybook hero, the original screen cowboy, ever forthright and honest, even when (as was often the case) he played a villain, William S. Hart lived for a while in the Dakota Territory, then worked as a postal clerk in New York City. In 1888 he began to study acting. In 1899 he created the role ...
129,565
6. Wallace Reid
Actor | Carmen
The son of writer-theater producer-director-actor Hal Reid, Wallace was on stage by the age of four in the act with his parents. He spent most of his early years, not on the stage, but in private schools where he excelled in music and athletics. In 1910, his father went to the Chicago studio of "...
119,466
7. Pearl White
Actress | The Perils of Pauline
Born on her father's farm in Green Ridge, Missouri, the youngest of five children. Moved with her family to Springfield, Missouri, where she grew up. Joined the Diemer Theatre Company during her second year of high school, and went on the road with a touring stock company at age 18, in 1907. Signed...
114,206
8. Anita Stewart
Actress | A Midnight Romance
Anita Stewart was born on February 7, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for A Midnight Romance (1919), Her Kingdom of Dreams (1919) and The Lodge in the Wilderness (1926). She was married to George Peabody Converse and Rudolph Cameron. She died ...
102,876
9. Theda Bara
Actress | A Fool There Was
Theda Bara was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, as Theodosia Goodman, on July 29, 1885. She was the daughter of a local tailor and his wife. As a teenager Theda was interested in the theatrical arts and once she finished high school, she dyed her blond hair black and went in pursuit of her dream. By 1908 ...
93,684
10. Francis X. Bushman
Actor | Sabrina
Francis X. Bushman was born on January 10, 1883 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Sabrina (1954), The Phantom Planet (1961) and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925). He was married to Iva Millicient Richardson, Norma Emily Atkin, Beverly Bayne and Josephine ...
93,608
11. Earle Williams
Actor | The Scarlet Runner
Earle Williams was born on February 28, 1880 in Sacramento, California, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Scarlet Runner (1916), Arsene Lupin (1917) and The Wolf (1919). He was married to Florine Walz. He died on April 25, 1927 in Hollywood, California, USA.
93,426
12. William Farnum
Actor | The Man Hunter
William Farnum was born the son of G.D. Farnum and Adela Le Gros, actors who trained their William and his two brothers, Dustin Farnum and Marshall Farnum, in their profession. William made his stage debut at the age of 10 in Richmond, Virginia, in a production of "Julius Caesar" starring Edwin ...
93,318
13. Mary Miles Minter
Actress | Jenny Be Good
Little Mary Miles Minter was a child star who was dominated by her mother. At the age of 5 she first appeared on the stage in the play "Cameo Kirby". From that time on she worked steadily without a single vacation. Her greatest stage success was in "The Littlest Rebel", with William Farnum and ...
93,090
14. Clara Kimball Young
Actress | The Common Law
Clara Kimball Young was born Clarisa Kimball on September 6, 1890, to Edward Kimball and the former Mrs. E.M. Kimball, traveling stock company actors with the Holden Co. Though she claimed Chicago as her birthplace, there are no records of her being born in Cook County--which includes Chicago--and ...
88,576
15. Norma Talmadge
Actress | Camille
Norma Talmadge was born on May 26, 1895, in Jersey City, New Jersey. The daughter of an unemployed alcoholic and his wife, Norma did not have the idyllic childhood that most of us yearn for. Her father left the family on Christmas Day and his wife and three daughters had to fend for themselves. Her...
88,040
16. Pauline Frederick
Actress | Three Women
Pauline Frederick was born Pauline Beatrice Libby in Boston, Massachusetts on August 12, 1883. She was fascinated with show business from an early age and throughout her childhood, she was bred for a career in music. It has been said she had a terrific soprano voice, but Pauline also dabbled a bit ...
87,231
17. Charles Chaplin
Writer | The Great Dictator
Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular character, the Little Tramp; the man with the ...
86,192
18. Vivian Martin
Actress | Louisiana
On Broadway from 1901, vivacious, blonde Vivian Martin was one of the first stars of the stage to be signed by the fledgling World Film Corporation in 1914 (then under the auspices of Arthur Spiegel and Lewis J. Selznick). Vivian's first step to fame had come in 1911, when the impresario George M. ...
85,648
19. Billie Burke
Actress | The Wizard of Oz
Billie Burke was born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke on August 7, 1885 in Washington, D.C. Her father was a circus clown, and as a child she toured the United States and Europe with the circus (before motion pictures and after the stage, circuses were the biggest form of entertainment in the...
79,908
20. Ethel Clayton
Actress | Pettigrew's Girl
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 ...
78,919
21. Beverly Bayne
Actress | Romeo and Juliet
Beverly Bayne was born on November 11, 1893 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for Romeo and Juliet (1916), The Age of Innocence (1924) and The Girl at the Curtain (1914). She was married to Charles Thomas Hvass Sr. and Francis X. Bushman. She died on August 18, 1982 in ...
73,699
22. Jack Pickford
Actor | Brown of Harvard
Nepotism certainly has had its advantages in Hollywood, none more so than in the cinematic career of Jack Pickford, whose famous older sis, "America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford, saw to it that Jack had every advantage her star weight could muster. In Jack's case, it only added fuel to a ...
72,665
23. J. Warren Kerrigan
Actor | Captain Blood
Very popular American star of silent films who left the business at the height of his career. While barely in his teens, he worked as a warehouse clerk until a chance arrived to appear in a vaudeville production. He continued to act in traveling stock productions, though he took a brief time away ...
72,217
24. Alice Joyce
Actress | Beau Geste
Having worked as a telephone operator at age 13 and a fashion model afterwards, Alice Joyce joined the Kalem film company at 20, making her debut in The Deacon's Daughter (1910), and achieved popularity as a charming, proper leading lady in many shorts. After Vitagraph bought out Kalem, Joyce began ...
71,762
25. Henry B. Walthall
Actor | The Birth of a Nation
Henry B. Walthall was a respected stage actor who became a favorite of pioneering film director D.W. Griffith. Born in 1878 in Alabama, Walthall embarked on a law career but quit law school in 1898 to enlist in the US Army in order to fight in the Spanish-American War. Returning from the war he ...
70,887
26. Geraldine Farrar
Actress | Carmen
Famed singer and author Geraldine Farrar was educated in public schools and then became a music student of Mrs. J.H. Long, Trabadello, Emma Thursby, Lilli Lehman and Graziani. Her 1901 debut was at the Royal Opera House in Berlin, in the role of Marguerite in "Faust". From 1906-22 she was a member ...
70,395
27. Alice Brady
Actress | My Man Godfrey
Alice Brady was born in New York City on November 2, 1892. She was interested in the stage from childhood, as her father was famed Broadway producer William A. Brady. After a few stage productions, Alice was discovered by movie producers in New York, since this was the film capital at the time. Her...
69,799
28. George Walsh
Actor | A Manhattan Knight
George Walsh was born on March 16, 1889 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for A Manhattan Knight (1920), American Pluck (1925) and The Count of Luxembourg (1926). He was married to Seena Owen. He died on June 13, 1981 in Pomona, California, USA.
65,486
29. May Allison
Actress | The Greater Glory
Born in Rising Fawn, GA (youngest of 5 children) Parents: Dr. John S. Allison and Nannie Virginia Wise Sisters: Maude, Verda, Zetta Brother: Herschel Mother Lived with her in California until her death. After Quirk's death, she met C. N. Osborne in NYC, they were married for over 40 years until his...
63,335
30. Mae Marsh
Actress | The Birth of a Nation
Mae Marsh's father was an auditor for the railroad who died when she was four. Her family moved to San Francisco, where her stepfather was killed in the 1906 earthquake. Her great-aunt then took Mae and her sister to Los Angeles. With her show business background, Mae's aunt took them to the ...
63,290
31. Dustin Farnum
Actor | The Squaw Man
American leading man of silent pictures who specialized in Westerns. His mother and father were, respectively, a singer and an actor, and he and his younger brother William Farnum were introduced to the theatre at an early age. Raised in Maine, Dustin attended the East Maine Conference Seminary, ...
63,225
32. Charles Ray
Actor | The Girl I Loved
Ray portrayed simple unaffected country bumpkins in silent rural melodramas. Unfortunately, Ray let Hollywood turn him into a headstrong egotist. Alienating most producers, he put up his own money to finance a major feature called The Courtship of Myles Standish (1923). The film was a miserable ...
63,023
33. Bessie Love
Actress | The Broadway Melody
Bessie Love was born in Texas. Her cowboy father moved the family to Hollywood, where he became a chiropractor. As the family needed money, Bessie's mother sent her to Biograph Studios, hoping she would become an actress. D.W. Griffith saw she was pretty and had some acting talent, and put her in ...
62,601
34. Violet Mersereau
Actress | Together
Violet Mersereau was born on October 2, 1892 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Together (1918), The Shepherd King (1923) and Nero (1922). She died on November 12, 1975 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA.
62,564
35. Mae Murray
Actress | The Merry Widow
Dubbed "The Girl with the Bee Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen," silent screen star Mae Murray was born in New York City as Marie Adrienne Koenig on May 10, 1885. The middle of three children born to French and German émigrés, she began studying dance at a young age.
Mae's professional ...
62,224
36. June Caprice
Actress | A Child of the Wild
June Caprice was born Helen Elizabeth Lawson in Arlington, Massachusetts on November 19, 1895. Her parents, Anna and Peter Lawson, were both born in Norway. June was educated at the Boston Conservatory of Music and began her acting career on the stage. At age 16 the blue-eyed blonde won a Mary ...
61,130
37. Carlyle Blackwell
Actor | The Ocean Waif
Carlyle Blackwell was a popular American matinee idol and occasional director of the silent cinema. Debonair and darkly handsome, he made his debut with Vitagraph in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1910) and was seldom out of work as a romantic lead, progressing from one- and two-reelers to feature films by ...
60,820
38. Bryant Washburn
Actor | Captain Midnight
Bryant Washburn was born on April 28, 1889 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Captain Midnight (1942), Skinner's Baby (1917) and Till I Come Back to You (1918). He was married to Virginia Vance and Mabel Forrest. He died on April 30, 1963 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, ...
60,560
39. Olga Petrova
Actress | Bridges Burned
British born Olga Petrova was born Muriel Harding on 10th May 1884 in England. She first made her film debut in Russia playing the role of Sofja Andreevna in Yakov Protazanov's 'Departure of a Grand Old Man' in 1912, she arrived in America around 1913 to appear on vaudeville and in the dramatic ...
60,424
40. Louise Huff
Actress | Seventeen
Louise Huff was born on November 14, 1895 in Columbus, Georgia, USA. She was an actress, known for Seventeen (1916), T'Other Dear Charmer (1918) and Heart of Gold (1919). She was married to Edwin A. Stillman. She died on August 22, 1973 in New York City, New York, USA.
55,184
41. Antonio Moreno
Actor | Creature from the Black Lagoon
A serious rival to Rudolph Valentino as the suave, smouldering 'Latin Lover' type was black-haired Spanish-born Antonio Moreno. One of the most prominent screen stars of the 1920s, he was equally adept at romance, melodrama or comedy and appeared opposite most of the legendary movie queens of the ...
54,800
42. Dorothy Dalton
Actress | Fool's Paradise
Dorothy Dalton was a silent film star who worked her way up from a stock company to a movie career. She made her film debut in 1914 in Pierre of the Plains (1914), co-starring Edgar Selwyn, and appeared in Charles E. Blaney's Across the Pacific (1914) that same year. Producer-director Thomas H. Ince...
54,513
43. Mollie King
Actress | The Seven Pearls
Mollie King was born in New York City on April 16, 1895. Acting had always not been far from Mollie mind since she was living in New York. After all, this city was the hub of the entertainment industry long before Hollywood came along. She made her debut, at the age of 21, in 1916's A CIRCUS ...
49,060
44. Sessue Hayakawa
Actor | The Bridge on the River Kwai
Sessue Hayakawa was born in Chiba, Japan. His father was the provincial governor and his mother a member of an aristocratic family of the "samurai" class. The young Hayakawa wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a career officer in the Japanese navy, but he was turned down due to ...
48,201
45. Owen Moore
Actor | A Star Is Born
Born in 1884, virile and dashing silent screen idol Owen Moore, equipped with incredibly handsome reddish and ruddy features, came to America with his family from Ireland at the age of 11. After some stage work, he entered films at the Biograph Studio in 1908 and appeared in many of D.W. Griffith's...
48,054
46. Olive Thomas
Actress | Beatrice Fairfax
Oliva R. Duffy was born on October 20, 1894, in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, the eldest of three children, with two younger brothers. Olive or Ollie, as she was known to family and friends, did not have much of a childhood. Life in industrial Pittsburgh (at the time, spelled "Pittsburg") was depressing...
48,000
47. Viola Dana
Actress | Two Sisters
Viola Dana (real name Virginia Flugrath) was born in Brooklyn, NY, on June 26, 1897. She was the middle sister of three sisters (the other two were Edna Flugrath and Shirley Mason). She made her film debut in 1914 in Molly the Drummer Boy (1914). The following year she received top billing playing ...
47,632
48. Bessie Barriscale
Actress | Rose of the Rancho
Bessie Barriscale was born on September 30, 1884 in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Rose of the Rancho (1914), Home (1916) and The Painted Soul (1915). She was married to Howard Hickman. She died on June 30, 1965 in Kentfield, California, USA.
47,229
49. Creighton Hale
Actor | The Cat and the Canary
Creighton Hale was born on May 24, 1882 in County Cork, Ireland. He was an actor, known for The Cat and the Canary (1927), The Circle (1925) and Riley of the Rainbow Division (1928). He was married to Victoire Lowe and Kathleen Bering. He died on August 9, 1965 in South Pasadena, California, USA.
47,183
50. House Peters
Actor | Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman
Born in Bristol, England. As a youth sailed around the world, worked in South Africa as a mining technician and served in the Boer War. Established England and America as a stage actor, he was hired by Jesse L. Lasky and quickly became a leading light of the silent film. His son, House Peters Jr., ...
46,845
51. William Desmond
Actor | Around the World in Eighteen Days
Born in the upstate New York town of Horseheads in 1878, William Desmond began his show business career in vaudeville and on the stage. He had his own theatrical company by the time he made his film debut in Kilmeny (1915). Starting out in dramatic parts, Desmond soon switched to westerns and ...
46,609
52. Crane Wilbur
Writer | The Bat
Actor, screenwriter and director Crane Wilbur was born Erwin Crane Wilbur on November 17, 1886, in Athens, NY. The nephew of the great stage actor Tyrone Power Sr., Wilbur first took to the boards as an actor, making his Broadway debut billed as Erwin Crane Wilbur on June 3, 1903, in a trilogy of ...
46,406
53. Edith Storey
Actress | The Christian
According to an article in The Paterson (New Jersey) Morning Call of 15 April 1921, she had just returned "...to the screen after a long absence, during which she was busy making history in Europe as a driver of one of the American hospital corps ambulances." Other accounts say she did this in New ...
43,634
54. Tom Forman
Director | The Broken Wing
Tom Forman was born on February 22, 1893 in Mitchell County, Texas, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Broken Wing (1923), The Fighting American (1924) and To Have and to Hold (1916). He was married to Mary Mersch. He died on November 7, 1926 in Venice, California, USA.
38,146
55. Robert Warwick
Actor | In a Lonely Place
A prominent matinée stage and silent-film star with handsome features offset only slightly by a prominent proboscis, Robert Warwick was born and raised in Sacramento, California, as Robert Taylor Bien. The gift of music was instilled at an early age (he sang in his church choir) and he initially ...
38,116
56. Blanche Sweet
Actress | Anna Christie
Born into a family of show people, Blanche Sweet first appeared on the stage when she was 18 months old. She was a dancer by the time she was four and a talented actress by 1909 when she started work at the Biograph with D.W. Griffith. By 1910, aged 14, she was four years younger than Mary Pickford...
37,864
57. Earle Foxe
Actor | Hangman's House
Earle Foxe was born to Charles Aldrich Fox, originally of Flint, Michigan. His half sister was Ethel May Fox, born to Charles Aldrich Fox and Katie Eldridge. Ethel was a music teacher and quite active in musical productions in Detroit, Michigan. Earle was always very private about his own early ...
37,726
58. William Russell
Actor | The Roof Tree
Silent-film star William Russell was born in the Bronx, New York, in the late 1880s (various sources give it as 1884, 1886 and 1889). His mother, Clara, was a highly regarded stage actress. Russell studied law at Fordham University (and, some sources say, Harvard University). He started a law ...
37,689
59. Harry T. Morey
Actor | In Honor's Web
Harry T. Morey was born on August 21, 1873 in Charlotte, Michigan, USA. He was an actor and cinematographer, known for In Honor's Web (1919), Beating the Odds (1919) and A Man's Home (1921). He died on January 24, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
37,615
60. Fannie Ward
Actress | The Cheat
Fannie Ward was a star of light comedies on Broadway and in vaudeville. Internationally famous, she was at the height of her career in the first decade of the 20th century. She debuted on Broadway at 19 in "Pippino" (1890). She went on to starring roles in "The Marriage of William Ashe", "Madam ...
37,603
61. Thomas Meighan
Actor | The Racket
This once popular silent screen star and older matinee idol for Paramount Studios is all but forgotten today; however, Thomas "Tommy" Meighan was one of the rulers of the Hollywood roost, between the years 1915 and 1928.
He was born in Pittsburgh, his father a president of a major manufacturing ...
37,507
62. Jackie Saunders
Actress | Puppets of Fate
Jacqueline (Jackie) Saunders was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 6, 1892. She was a young 22 years old when she first appeared in the silent movie, THE WILL O' THE WISP. She stayed fairly busy throughout her career. She was an actress who wasn't as noticed as some others. She was ...
37,429
63. Ruth Roland
Actress | The Haunted Valley
Ruth Roland was, along with Pearl White, the queen of the early movie serials. She came from a show-business family, her father being a San Francisco theater manager and her mother a professional singer. Ruth made her acting debut at age 3-1/2, and soon became a professional actress and singer. Her...
37,393
64. George Beban
Actor | The Loves of Ricardo
American actor-director-writer-producer of silent pictures, formerly a singer and vaudevillian. A native of San Francisco's Telegraph Hill, he was one of four sons born to Rocco Beban, a Dalmatian immigrant, and Johanna Dugan, from County Cork, Ireland.
He exhibited singing talent at an early age ...
37,340 (tie)
65. Lillian Gish
Actress | The Night of the Hunter
Lillian Diana Gish was born on October 14, 1893, in Springfield, Ohio. Her father, James Lee Gish, was an alcoholic who caroused, was rarely at home, and left the family to, more or less, fend for themselves. To help make ends meet, Lillian, her sister Dorothy Gish, and their mother, Mary Gish, ...
37,340 (tie)
66. Helen Holmes
Actress | The Railroad Raiders
Though the circumstances of Helen Holmes' birth are somewhat hazy (sources place it in either Chicago or Louisville, KY, in mid-June or early July of 1893), what isn't hazy is that she was, with Pearl White, the queen of the railroad serials of the mid-teens and early '20s. Holmes always played a ...
37,111
67. Tom Moore
Actor | On Thin Ice
Tom Moore was born on May 1, 1883 in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland. He was an actor and director, known for On Thin Ice (1925), Side Street (1929) and The Cabaret Singer (1915). He was married to Eleanor Moore, Renée Adorée and Alice Joyce. He died on February 12, 1955 in Santa Monica...
37,086
68. Mary Anderson
Actress | The False Faces
Mary Anderson was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 28, 1897. She broke into films with C.O.D. (1914) in 1914 when she was just 17 years old. Unfortunately, she didn't get the roles she wanted as the competition for the parts were extremely fierce. Mary's career lasted until 1923, when she made ...
37,080
69. Stuart Holmes
Actor | The Man Who Laughs
Stuart Holmes, born Joseph Liebchen, was a silent screen leading man (from 1909) who starred in Fox's first feature film, Life's Shop Window (1914), filmed on Staten Island for $4,500. Being of somewhat menacing demeanour, the cold-eyed, moustachioed Holmes quickly discovered his penchant for ...
37,039
70. Irene Castle
Actress | Patria
Irene Castle and her husband Vernon Castle (born Vernon Blyth) were the best known ballroom dancers of the early 20th C. Beginning about 1914 they operated several clubs and studios in the NYC area, toured the country dancing, and were able to charge as much as a thousand dollars an hour for ...
36,926
71. Madge Evans
Actress | Dinner at Eight
Lovely Madge Evans was the perennial nice girl in films of the 1930s. By then, she had been in front of the camera for many years, starting with Fairy Soap commercials at the age of two (she sat on a bar of soap holding a bunch of violets with the tag line reading "have you a little fairy in your ...
36,864
72. Grace Cunard
Actress | The Twins' Double
A stage actress from her early teens, Grace Cunard made her Hollywood debut in 1910. She soon partnered with actor/director Francis Ford at Univeral, where they began turning out serials. The films' success led to Cunard's nickname of "The Serial Queen," and by 1916 she and Ford were ranked among ...
36,669
73. Eugene O'Brien
Actor | Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Eugene O'Brien, the silent screen matinée idol, was born Louis O'Brien in Boulder, Colorado in 1881, to police marshal John O'Brien and his wife Kate. He studied medicine at the University of Colorado in order to realize his family's ambition that he should become a physician. O'Brien's first love,...
35,877
74. Ben F. Wilson
Actor | The Power God
Ben F. Wilson, the prolific actor and director of the silent era, was born on July 7, 1876, in Corning, NY. His career as an actor began as most other thespians did in that era--as a member of a theatrical stock company. The stock companies that employed Wilson worked the East Coast circuits.
The ...
35,784
75. Montagu Love
Actor | Gunga Din
Montague Love - certainly an intriguing name - but his own - started his working life as a newspaper man in London. His primary expertise centered on being a field illustrator and cartoonist who covered the Boer War (1899-1902). His realistic battle sketches gained him popularity among readers, but...
35,717
76. Gladys Brockwell
Actress | Lights of New York
The daughter of actress Billie Brockwell, Brockwell first appeared on the stage at the age of three. She made her screen debut in Philadelphia for the Lubin Company in 1913, later working with D.W. Griffith. Joining Fox Studios, Brockwell was one of the busiest actresses in town and easily made the...
35,663
77. Ann Pennington
Actress | Susie Snowflake
Ann Pennington was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Her family, who were Quakers, moved to Camden, New Jersey when she was a child. She took dancing lessons from ballerina Catherine Littlefield. At the age of seventeen she made her Broadway debut in the musical. She joined the Ziegfeld Follies in 1913...
35,643
78. William Duncan
Actor | The Steel Trail
William Duncan was born on December 16, 1879 in Dundee, Tayside, Scotland, UK. He was an actor and director, known for The Steel Trail (1923), A Matrimonial Deluge (1913) and The Gunfighter's Son (1913). He was married to Edith Johnson. He died on February 8, 1961 in Hollywood, California, USA.
35,570
79. Peggy Hyland
Actress | The Honeypot
The beautiful English brunette star of the silent screen Peggy Hyland born in Birmingham in 1884. Educated in England and in convents in Europe. Began working on stage in 1910. Peggy starred in more than 45 movies in both Britain and Hollywood, making her film debut in Percy Nash's 'In the Rank' ...
35,416
80. Kathlyn Williams
Actress | The Rosary
Pioneer silver screen star Kathlyn Williams is primarily known as the spry blonde of the very first Hollywood cliffhanger, The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913), in which her real first name was used in the title. This accomplishment has resulted in many reference works mistakenly referring to her as an...
35,214
81. Marie Osborne
Actress | Milady o' the Beanstalk
Marie Osborne was born on November 5, 1911 in Denver, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for Milady o' the Beanstalk (1918), Twin Kiddies (1917) and The Godfather Part II (1974). She was married to Murray F. Yeats and Frank J. Dempsey. She died on November 11, 2010 in San Clemente, California...
35,164
82. Virginia Pearson
Actress | Impossible Catherine
Virginia Pearson was born on March 7, 1886 in Anchorage, Kentucky, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Impossible Catherine (1919), A Daughter of France (1918) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). She was married to Sheldon Lewis. She died on June 6, 1958 in Hollywood, California, USA.
35,097
83. June Elvidge
Actress | Beauty's Worth
June Elvidge was born on June 30, 1893 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for Beauty's Worth (1922), The Power and the Glory (1918) and The Moral Deadline (1919). She was married to Frank Badgley, Roy Zulick Ramsey and Briton Niven Busch. She died on May 1, 1965 in Eatontown, ...
26,907
84. Louise Glaum
Actress | Sex
Louise Glaum was born on September 10, 1888 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Sex (1920), Sweetheart of the Doomed (1917) and The Three Musketeers (1916). She was married to Zachary M. Harris and Harry J. Edwards. She died on November 25, 1970 in Los Angeles, ...
26,897
85. Dorothy Gish
Actress | Nell Gwyn
Dorothy Gish was born into a broken family where her restless father James Lee Gish was frequently absent. Mary Robinson McConnell a.k.a. Mary Gish, her mother, had entered into acting to make money to support the family. As soon as Dorothy and her sister Lillian Gish were old enough, they became ...
26,807
86. Mary Fuller
Actress | The Huntress of Men
Mary Fuller's entrance into motion pictures was quite accidental. She was with a theatrical troupe that was on its way to tour the South in 1908 when, during a short stopover in New York City, the company broke up. Stranded, Mary made her way to the Vitagraph film studio looking for a job and, with...
26,649
87. Ann Little
Actress | The Blue Fox
Unlike many serial heroines, Ann Little actually was a daughter of the West. Born in a small town near the foot of northern California's Mt. Shasta, she was raised on a ranch in the shadow of the great mountain. After graduating high school, she joined a traveling stock company, winding up in a ...
26,641
88. Irving Cummings
Director | Curly Top
New York-born Irving Cummings began his career as an actor on the Broadway stage in his late teens, and appeared with the legendary Lillian Russell's company. He entered films in 1909 as an actor, and became a very popular leading man in the early 1920s. He began directing at around that time, ...
26,613
89. Mahlon Hamilton
Actor | Half a Chance
Mahlon Hamilton was born on June 15, 1880 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Half a Chance (1920), Daddy-Long-Legs (1919) and The Single Standard (1929). He was married to Alita Bratton Farnum and Sara L. Leary. He died on June 20, 1960 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, ...
26,601
90. Ralph Kellard
Actor | Women Everywhere
Ralph Kellard was born on June 16, 1882 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Women Everywhere (1930), Her Mother's Secret (1915) and The Precious Parcel (1916). He was married to Rebecca Lee Dorsey. He died on February 5, 1955 in New York City, New York, USA.
26,593
91. Niles Welch
Actor | Dangerous Pleasure
Niles Welch was born on July 29, 1888, in Hartford, Connecticut. He attended Yale and Columbia Universities, where he excelled in athletics. Welch spent two years in France studying literature, languages, painting and drama. He started his career on stage in 1909 in a production at Columbia. After ...
26,554
92. Conway Tearle
Actor | Romeo and Juliet
This West Point-educated actor was a tall, dark and handsome American co-star who romanced some of the most illustrious femme stars ever to appear on the silent silver screen. Conway Tearle was born in New York City on May 17, 1878 to a family of entertainers. Christened Frederick Conway Levy, his ...
26,544
93. Harry Hilliard
Actor | Romeo and Juliet
Harry Hilliard was born on October 24, 1886 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Romeo and Juliet (1916), Heart and Soul (1917) and Merely Mary Ann (1916). He died on April 21, 1966 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
26,518
94. Theodore Roberts
Actor | Grumpy
The son of a sea captain, Theodore Roberts was a veteran stage actor, making his first appearance in 1880. Often referred to as the "Grand Duke of Hollywood," Roberts was a regular on the Cecil B. DeMille team and appeared in 23 of DeMille's films. He is best remembered for his role as Moses in ...
26,405
95. Frank Keenan
Actor | The False Code
Frank was considered a "furniture actor" on stage. While on stage he was so often drunk that he had to lean on or hold onto furniture to keep from falling down. Known through the country for his stage work, he was ranked as one of the foremost stage artists prior to moving to Hollywood. Keenan's ...
26,345
96. Jewel Carmen
Actress | The Bat
Jewel Carmen was born in Portland, Oregon, on July 13, 1897. After graduating from high school, she traveled to New York City to try her hand at acting. She appeared in her first production in the lead role in Daphne and the Pirate (1916) when she was 19 years old. Six more films followed,including ...
26,325
97. Shirley Mason
Actress | Sally in Our Alley
Shirley Mason was born Leonie Flugrath on June 6, 1900, in Brooklyn, NY. The youngest of three acting sisters (the others were Edna Flugrath and Viola Dana), Shirley made her debut in At the Threshold of Life (1911) at age 11. As a child actress she wasn't in much demand until she grew older, then ...
26,321
98. Vola Vale
Actress | Who Cares
Considered in her day to be one of the screen's great beauties, Vola Vale was born born Violet Smith in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Rochester. As a youngster she appeared in amateur stage productions in Rochester, and at age 15 made her film debut under her real name (she didn't use Vola Vale...
26,260
99. Marie Walcamp
Actress | Tongues of Flame
Marie Walcamp was born on July 27, 1894 in Dennison, Ohio. Dennison had a small population and was miles from Canton and Youngstown, the two nearest big cities in the state. Because of its size, the town didn't afford the type of opportunity of fame that Marie wanted. She began to dream of stardom ...
26,240
100. Dorothy Phillips
Actress | Broadway Love
A former stage actress, Dorothy Phillips was married to actor/director/producer Allen Holubar. They were known as two of the screen's most prominent players--her the star, he the director/producer. Dorothy was well known in Hollywood as one of the most warm-hearted, approachable stars in the ...
26,237
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