Silent Stars

Outlaw in "Great Train Robbery" 1903. Co-founder of Essany Film Company.

Gifted comic teamed often with Mabel Normand. Both suffered scandals which cost them their careers.

Name was anagram for Arab Death. Actually named Theodosia Goodman from Cincinnati, OH. Known as a Vamp, or female vampire.

Oldest of the Barrymore family, oscar winner, MGM character actor up until his death in 1954.

First Lady of the American Stage and oscar winner. Real nameEthel Mae Blythe. Continued in film and TV up to her death in 1959.

The Great Profile, youngest of the Barrymores. Starred with famous siblings in "Rasputin & The Empress." Grandfather of Drew Barrymore.

Known for rescuing Lillian Gish from the ice floe in Way Down East. Also starred in Broken Blossoms, Tol'able David. Nominated for Oscar in 1929 and conquered talkies with Dawn Patrol. Retired in 1942.

Essanay Company star often teamed with Francis X Bushman and became known as King and Queen of Hollywood. Later the copule married, later to divorce. She preferred the stage and never showed off her singing voice on film.

Mustached comedian from Australia. Filmed two-reelers with Del Lord. Copied in talkies by several comic acts. Worked with Mack Sennett. Continued into talkies in The Invisible Man, worked into the 1940s.

The "It" Girl, won a prize in a magazine that brought her to Hollywood. Poster girl of the Roaring Twenties and a very good actress. Starred in "Wings," the very first Best Picture Oscar winner. After making a few talkies, brought down by changing tastes and by scandal not of her making. Married Western Star Rex Bell, who became Lieutenant Governor of Nevada.

Chosen by author Sir James M. Barrie personally to star as "Peter Pan" in the first film adaptation of his story. Also appeared as the Virgin Mary in the original "Ben-Hur." First talkie was "The Singing Fool" with Al Jolson. Married in 1932 and retired.

Icon of the silent screen known for her Dutch bob hair style.Married direcvtor A. Edward Sutherland. Star of Paramount Pictures and known for her brutal honesty on the lot.Starred in Pabst's "Pandora's Box," and the scandalous and censored "Diary of a Lost Girl." After a time in Europe, returned to Hollywood and co-starred in B pictures, including one with John Wayne. Retired in 1940 and worked in New York in an escort service briefly. Wrote book of film critiques, "Lulu in Hollywood" in 1982.

Very first American comedy film star. Worked for Vitagraph in 1910. Started in films in his 40s and did 160 short films in his career. Also did dramas, like "Vanity Fare," and "Pickwick Papers." He became a star and was the first to be treated as such, refusing to help stage hands move props and scenery. Co-starred with Flora Finch. Died in 1915.

Matinee idol. Signed in 1911 to Essanay Pictures. Performed in romantic roles and known for his physique. Starred in Mayer's first hit, "The Great Secret." Thought single by his adoring fans, his wife of 16 years filed for divorce. The father of 5 then quickly remarried, causing his fans to leave in droves but returned to superstar stature with the film "Ben-Hur." Went bankrupt in 1929 stock market crash and then turned to radio, appearing in over 5000 broadcasts. Contiued in films until his death in 1966.

Man of a Thousand Faces. Son of deaf parents, known for completely losing himself in his roles, including films like "Phantom of the Opera," "Hunchbank of Notre Dame," "Tell It to the Marines," and "unholy Three." Known for his grotesque makeup. Father of Lon Chaney, Jr., star of "The Wolf Man" in the 1940s. Chaney made one talkie before his death in 1930 from lung cancer, which cost him his voice.

At age 10 placed in a workhouse in England after his father died, a year later joined by younger brother Charlie. One of the most underrated comic actors. Acted as brother Charlie's manager. Starred in "Charley's Aunt" in 1925 and "The Better 'ole" in 1926 with Warner Brothers. Retired in 1928.

"The Little Tramp." Joined the Keystone Company in 1914. Joined D. W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford to form United Artists Pictures. Classic films include "Gold Rush," "Modern Times," " City Lights," and "The Great Dictator." He was slow to come to talkies, making silent movies into the 1930s. Married to daughter of Eugene O'Neill. Also for a time married to film star Paulette Goddard.

Great comic, starated career in 1912 with Christie and Keystone studios. 1921 signed with Hal Roach, where he found great success as director and comedian. Worked frequently with director Leo McCarey. Co-starred with Laurel & Hardy in "Sons of the Desert," but known mostly for his hilarious two-reelers. Moved to Columbia Pictures with The Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Del Lord, and other great comic stars. He became an alcoholic and died at age 46 in 1940 of a heart attack.

Signed in 1921 to Mack Sennett. Seasoned vaudevillian and could play any role, best known and the whiskered old man. Did 142 two-reelers for Columbia Pictures and called his character by his own name. Later co-starred on "The Real McCoys" on TV with Walter Brennan.

Signing with Keystone Studios in 1913, he had worked in vaudeville and even in the circus.Known for his Walrus style mustache. Left Keystone for Fox. Appeared in the drama "Greed," and in comedy "Modern Times" with Chaplin, as well as "The Great Dictator. Moved to the Motion Picture Country House in 1965 and died in 1971.

Best known to more modern audiences as Uncle Fester of TV's "Addams Family" fame, Jackie started out as a child star, vaudeville by age 4 and the best known child star in the world by age 7. Began work with Charlie Chaplin 1919 at age 5. Superstar due to the hit "The Kid" in 1921 with Chaplin. Starred in "Oliver Twist" "Peck's Bad Boy," and many others.#1 Box Office star of 1924. In 1935 he leared that all of the $4 million he earned as a child star was all gone. The lawsuit against his mother and stepfather led to the passage of the Child Actor's Bill, known as the Coogan Law. Personal life including several marriages, including Betty Grable. He reunited with Chaplin in 1972 at an award ceremony.

Wide-eyed ingenue in silent films. Dancer in her teens. Signed with MGM in 1925. Renamed Joan Crawford. Starred with Jackie Coogan and Harry Langdon at the start and chosen one of the WAMPAS babies that year.Co-Starred with Lon Chaney in "The Unknown." The Jazz Age film, "Our Dancing Daughters" made her a star in 1928. Rivaled Clara Bow in popularity. Married Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. at Pickfair. Career skyrocketed with sound. Won Oscar for "Mildred Pierce."

Joined Biograph Pictures in 1908. Starred as US Grant in "Birth of a Nation" with DW Griffith; the villain in 1919's "Broken Blossoms." Acted and directed in 1920s. Exclusive to acting by 1930. Appeared in "Mutiny on the Bounty," "Wuthering Heights," "Valley of Decision," "Lassie Come Home," "National Velvet," and the all-time classic "How Green Was My Valley." Moved to the Motion Picture Country Home and died in 1974.

Danish actor came to US in 1916. With MGM in 1925 starring in blockbuster hit "The Big Parade." and in "Scarlet Letter" with Lillian Gish and "Son of the Shiek" with Valentino in 1926. His thick accent stopped his career with talkies. Committed suicide in 1934.

Known as mistress to William Randolph Hurst,(a 34 year age difference), she was an excellent comedienne in pictures. The screen's first screwball comedienne. While still in demand, she retired from Hollywood in 1937, turning down George Bernard Shaw's request that she appear in his "Pygmalion."

DW Griffith protege after Lillian Gish. Starred in "Sally of the Sawdust." First appeared in movies in 1916 in a scene in "Intolerance." Married well and retired early.

Met Mack Sennett in 1902 when he was an aspiring singer. He was to cast her in "Tillie's Punctured Romance" in 1914, which she had starred in on Broadway. it also starred Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin. Continued to star in classic comedies throughout the silent era. Her star had dimmed in 1927 and she comtemplated suicide, but by 1930 she was in the talkie "Anna Christie" with Garbo. Dressler won the Oscar in 1930 for "Min & Bill." She remained extremely popular up to the time of her death by cancer in 1934.

Lured th Hollywood from the Broadway stage by the Triangle Company in 1915. Known for his acrobatic and swashbuckler action films. During a WWI War Bond drive he met and fell in love with Mary Pickford. Co-founder with DW Griffith, Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford of United Artists Pictures. First president of the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Star of "Mark of Zorro," "Three Musketeers," "Robin Hood," "Thief of Bagdad," "The Black Pirate," and "The Iron Mask." Made a few talkies and divorced Pickford in 1936. Died 1939 of a heart attack at age 56.