#stage actresses

[thinkingimages]

Kde se žebrá (Nenarození) - 26.11.1937, Jiřina Šejbalová (Zorka) Foto: Josef Heinrich

[zoeandsubaloveart]

French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt (1843-1923) (Getty Images)

[storyweaverofgondor]

Is there anything more heartwarming then a stage actor breaking character to laugh?

[thesoundofsilents]

Maude Fealy in costume, 1910s

[old-movie-stars]

Gladys Cooper, circa 1910

[rosscountyhistoricalsociety]

Portrait of actress Effie Ellsler by Chillicothe, Ohio resident Felix Mace, c. 1877.

Effie was a theater actress who once held the record for longest run on Broadway (some sources say up to 1,500 performances of her role in Hazel Kirke.) She performed in Chillicothe with a road company, inspiring Mace to paint her portrait.

Effie began her career on Broadway when she was little more than a toddler, securing her first role at age three. She was such a dedicated professional that when she was informed her husband had died, she went on with that evening’s performance because the company didn’t have an understudy for her part.

She went to Hollyood in 1926, but her career in film didn’t take off until the advent of sound. She appeared in over 22 movies. Her last role was in the Greta Garbo film Camille. In that film, she only had one line, the last she would ever utter on stage or screen: “What a happy day!” She died in 1942 and is buried in the Hollywood Forever cemetery.

The portrait is currently on display in our new Artists and Authors exhibit, which can be toured Tuesday through Sunday, 1-5pm.

[artdecoandmodernist]

Esther Ralston, Vanity Fair, Photo by Nickolas Muray, October 1926.

Esther Ralston (née Esther Louise Worth; Born 1902 in Bar Harbor, Maine – Died 1994 in Ventura, California) was an American film actress who was popular in the silent era. 

Esther Ralston began her career as a child actress in a family vaudeville act which was billed as "The Ralston Family with Baby Esther, America's Youngest Juliet". From this, she appeared in a few small silent film roles including a role alongside her brother in the 1920 film adaptation of Huckleberry Finn. Ralston later gained attention as Mrs. Darling in the 1924 film version of Peter Pan.

In the late 1920s she appeared in many films for Paramount, at one point earning as much as $8000 a week, and garnering much popularity, especially in Britain. She appeared mainly in comedies, often portraying spirited society girls, but received good reviews for her forays into dramatic roles. (x)

[mote-historie]

Ziegfeld Follies Girl Ethel Clayton, Photo by Frank T. Bacon (Gilbert and Bacon Studio), 1910s.

Credit: Shields Collection ex-Culver Service.

Ethel Clayton's screen debut came in 1909, in a short called Justified. She jockeyed her early film appearances with a burgeoning stage career. Her pretty brunette looks were reminiscent of the famous Gibson Girl drawings by Charles Dana Gibson. On the stage she appeared mainly in musicals or musical reviews such as The Ziegfeld Follies of 1911. These musical appearances indicate a singing talent Clayton may have possessed but went unused in her many silent screen performances.