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IMDbPro

Jobyna Ralston(1899-1967)

  • Actress
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Jobyna Ralston
Two young men -- one rich, one middle class -- who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.
Play trailer1:10
Wings (1927)
1 Video
71 Photos
Curly-locked, cherubic knockabout comedienne of the silent cinema. Her mother, portrait photographer Mrs. Kemp Raulston, named her after her favorite actress, Jobyna Howland. She harbored ambitions for her daughter to achieve similar fame and trained her to that end. After a failed teenage marriage to a local farmer, Jobyna left her Tennessee home and went to New York in 1919 to join the Ned Wayburn dancing academy, a popular springboard for aspiring actresses.

In 1920, she appeared first on screen in Reelcraft "Cuckoo" comedy shorts made in Jacksonville, FL. Around this time she also co-starred in Humor Risk (1921), which marked the film debut of The Marx Brothers, and is now considered a lost film. The following year she made her one Broadway appearance in "Two Little Girls in Blue" by George M. Cohan. Deciding that comedy was her forte, she went to Hollywood in 1922, starting as an extra with Hal Roach. She was cast in a rare dramatic role in The Call of Home (1922), then partnered with French comedian Max Linder and subsequently starred in Roach's James Parrott comedies. When Harold Lloyd became aware of her talent, he picked her as his leading lady, succeeding his wife-to-be Mildred Davis. By that time, Jobyna had already been in 60 one-reel comedy shorts for Hal Roach. She proceeded to star in six of Lloyd's features, of which Why Worry? (1923), The Freshman (1925) and The Kid Brother (1927) are standouts for her ability to combine considerable comedic talent with pathos. Of her performance in Girl Shy (1924), "Variety" commented (April 2) "Jobyna Ralston . . . proves herself considerable of an actress [sic] in addition to being decidedly pretty". In 1927 "Joby" was cast in a featured role in the Academy Award-winning drama Wings (1927), whose star, Richard Arlen, she married in January of that year (she eventually divorced Arlen in 1945 on the grounds of desertion, obtaining a $250,000 settlement). As a freelance comedienne she appeared in leading roles opposite stars like Eddie Cantor, Charles Ray and Buck Jones.

Jobyna also starred with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in an obscure Frank Capra melodrama, The Power of the Press (1928). She made just three talkies, The College Coquette (1929), Rough Waters (1930) (her co-star being Rin Tin Tin!) and Sheer Luck (1931). In regard to the first, the New York Times (August 26, 1929) declared that "Miss Ralston's utterances are frequently indistinct". Indeed, Jobyna was found to have a noticeable lisp which, combined with her impending pregnancy, effectively put an end to her career as a motion picture actress.
BornNovember 21, 1899
DiedJanuary 22, 1967(67)
BornNovember 21, 1899
DiedJanuary 22, 1967(67)
IMDbProStarmeter
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Photos71

Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston in The Freshman (1925)
Jobyna Ralston in The Freshman (1925)
Jobyna Ralston in The Freshman (1925)
Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston in The Freshman (1925)
Harold Lloyd, Jim Mason, and Jobyna Ralston in Why Worry? (1923)
John Aasen, Harold Lloyd, and Jobyna Ralston in Why Worry? (1923)
Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston in Hot Water (1924)
Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, and Paul Weigel in For Heaven's Sake (1926)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Jobyna Ralston in The Power of the Press (1928)
Robert Frazer and Jobyna Ralston in Lightning (1927)
Olin Francis, Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, and Leo Willis in The Kid Brother (1927)
Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston in Why Worry? (1923)

Known for

Robert Frazer, Jobyna Ralston, and Lightning the Horse in Lightning (1927)
Lightning
6.2
  • Mary Warren
  • Topsy
  • 1927
Harold Lloyd in Hot Water (1924)
Hot Water
7.1
  • Wifey
  • 1924
Max Linder in The Three Must-Get-Theres (1922)
The Three Must-Get-Theres
7.0
  • Constance Bonne-aux-Fieux
  • 1922
Sheer Luck
  • Betty Carver
  • 1931

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Sheer Luck
  • Edmund Breese and William Irving in Rough Waters (1930)
    Rough Waters
  • Eddie Clayton, William Collier Jr., John Holland, Maurice Murphy, Edward Peil Jr., and Ruth Taylor in The College Coquette (1929)
    The College Coquette
  • Some Mother's Boy
  • Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Jobyna Ralston in The Power of the Press (1928)
    The Power of the Press
  • The Toilers (1928)
    The Toilers
  • Black Butterflies (1928)
    Black Butterflies
  • Buck Jones in The Big Hop (1928)
    The Big Hop
  • Jobyna Ralston in The Count of Ten (1928)
    The Count of Ten
  • The Night Flyer (1928)
    The Night Flyer
  • Frankie Darro in Little Mickey Grogan (1927)
    Little Mickey Grogan
  • Pretty Clothes
  • A Racing Romeo (1927)
    A Racing Romeo
  • Robert Frazer, Jobyna Ralston, and Lightning the Horse in Lightning (1927)
    Lightning
  • Clara Bow and Charles 'Buddy' Rogers in Wings (1927)
    Wings

Videos1

Restored Version
Trailer 1:10
Restored Version

Personal details

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    • November 21, 1899
    • South Pittsburg, Tennessee, USA
    • January 22, 1967
    • Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA(pneumonia)
    • Richard ArlenJanuary 27, 1927 - September 4, 1945 (divorced, 1 child)
    • Richard Arlen Jr.
  • Other works
    Two Little Girls in Blue (1921). Musical comedy. Music by Paul Lannin and Vincent Youmans. Lyrics by Arthur Francis. Book by Fred Jackson. Musical Director: Charles Previn. Music orchestrated by Stephen Jones and Paul Lannin. Directed by Ned Wayburn. George M. Cohan's Theatre: 3 May 1921- 27 Aug 1921 (135 performances). Cast: Patricia Clarke, Daisy Daniels, Edith Decker, Carolyn Erwin, Madeleine Fairbanks, Marion Fairbanks, Helen Gates, Etienne Girardot (as "Dudley La Fleur"), Ellwood Gray, Frank Hall, Fred Hall, Otis Harper, Dorothy Harrison, Kay Harrison, Vanda Hoff, Olin Howland, Jacquelyn Hunter, Emma Janvier, Stanley Jessup (as "Captain Morrow"), Julie Kelety, Edith Kessler, Evelyn Law, Muriel Lodge, Leonora Lukens, George Mack, Gayle Mays, Beulah McFarland, Margery Morrison, Paul Porter, Jobyna Ralston (as "Ensemble") [only Broadway appearance], Fred Rogers, Fred Santley, Oscar Shaw (as "Robert Barker"), Rosemary Sill, Taylor, Harold Thompson, Jack Tomson, Tommy Tomson, Peggy Underwood, Fay West. Produced by Abraham L. Erlanger.
  • Publicity listings
    • 14 Articles

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Pretty, tender-looking silent screen lady known for her onscreen work in Harold Lloyd comedies. She replaced Mildred Davis, who retired to become Mrs. Harold Lloyd.

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