Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses

Description

Filled with little known facts and personal remembrances of the stars of the silent screen, Silent Players profiles the lives and careers of the hundred best, brightest, or most unusual silent film actors and actresses. Anthony Slide shows that the unlikely plot twists in many silent films are nothing compared to the strange and often sad, lives led by many of the men and women whose images flickered onscreen. His subjects include shining stars Lillian Gish and Blanche Sweet, leading men William Bakewell and Robert Harron, gifted leading ladies Laura La Plante and Alice Terry, ingenues Mary Astor and Mary Brian, and Hollywood's most famous extra Bess Flowers, among others. As Slide expIores their unique talents and extraordinary private lives, the result is a series of insightful portraits of the characters,who symbolize an original and pioneering era in motion picture history. In addition to being a lively look at the lives and careers of many of the American silent cinema's leading men and women, Silent Players also offers fascinating insight into silent film performance, from makeup to acting techniques and pantomime to the role of the director. Actress Ethel Grandir recalls the first panorama shot in the film Traffic In Souls, and actor Harold Lloyd explains how his comic films began with nothing more than a cast of characters and a few locations and emerged with plot and structure exactly nine hundred feet of film—a one-reeler—later. Slide offers a completely fresh view of many of the stars he profiles, repudiating the status of some and restoring to fame others who have slipped from view. He personally interviewed many of his subjects and knew several of them intimately, putting him in a unique position to tell the true stories of early film's most vibrant and appealing personalities. Table of Contents Mignon Anderson Mary Astor William Bakewell Lina Basquette Madge Bellamy Constance Binney Priscilla Bonner Hobart Bosworth Evelyn Brent Mary Brian Gladys Brockwell Kate Bruce John Bunny Ruth Clifford Elmer Clifton Miriam Cooper Pauline Curley Viola Dana Bebe Daniels and Bben Lyon Philippe de Lacy Carol Dempster Dorothy Devore Richard Dix Billie Dove Claire Dubrey Virginia Brown Faire Bess Flowers Howard Gaye Lillian Gish Dagmar Godowsky Jetta Goudal Ethel Grandin Ralph Graves Gilda Gray Corinne Griffith Robert Harron William S. Hart Alice Howell Alice Joyce Madge Kennedy Doris Kenyon J. Warren Kerrigan Laura la Plante The legends Lon Chaney, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Buster Keaton, Rudolph Valentino Harold Lloyd Babe London Bessie Love Dorothy Mackaill Mary MacLaren Percy Marmont Mae Marsh James Morrison Jack Mulhall Mae Murray Conrad Nagel Nita Naldi Mabel Normand Jane Novak George O'Brien Gertrude Olmstead Seena Owen Jean Paige Kathryn Perry Olga Petrova Mary Philbin Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Arline Pretty Esther Ralston Charles Ray Wallace Reid Billie Rhodes Charles "Buddy" Rogers Clarine Seymour Lowell Sherman Pauline Starke Gloria Swanson Blanche Sweet Constance Talmadge Norma Talmadge Alice Terry Florence Turner The Vamps Theda Bara, Louise Glaum, Kitty Gordon, Olga Grey, Alice Hollister, and Valeska Suratt George Walsh Henry B. Walthall Kathlyn Williams Lois Wilson Margery Wilson Claire Windsor Fay Wray