Lois Wilson (actress)
Lois Wilson | |
---|---|
Wilson in 1920 | |
Born | (1894-06-28)June 28, 1894 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | March 3, 1988(1988-03-03) (aged 93) Reno, Nevada, U.S. |
Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)[1] |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1915–1952 |
Lois Wilson (June 28, 1894 – March 3, 1988) was an American actress who worked during the silent film era. She also directed two short films and was a scenario writer.[2]
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
5 References
6 External links
Early life
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wilson's family moved to Alabama when she was still very young. She earned a degree from Alabama Normal College (now the University of West Alabama), and became a school teacher for young children, soon leaving to pursue a film career. In 1915 Wilson moved to California after winning a beauty contest put on by Universal Studios and the Birmingham News. This pageant was the predecessor to the Miss Alabama/Miss America pageant system, and Wilson is considered the first Miss Alabama. Upon arriving in Hollywood, she auditioned and was hired by the Victor Film Company for several small film roles.[citation needed]
In 1916, she visited Chicago, where she met pioneer female film director Lois Weber, who gave her a small part in her film The Dumb Girl of Portici, which starred famed ballerina Anna Pavlova. Weber then took her to Los Angeles, where she was groomed for stardom and began playing leads opposite actors such as J. Warren Kerrigan and Frank Keenan.[3]
Career
After appearing in several films at various studios, Wilson settled in at Paramount Pictures in 1919, where she remained until 1927. She was a WAMPAS Baby Star of 1922, and all told appeared in 150 movies. Her most recognized screen portrayals are Molly Wingate in The Covered Wagon (1923) and Daisy Buchanan in the silent film version of The Great Gatsby (1926). She acted opposite male stars such as Rudolph Valentino and John Gilbert.[citation needed]
Wilson played both romantic leads and character parts. Despite making a successful transition to sound, Wilson was dissatisfied with the roles she received in the 1930s, and she soon retired in 1941, making only three films after 1939. Lois ventured to Broadway and television following her final role in The Girl from Jones Beach (1949) with Ronald Reagan. Wilson played in the network soap operas The Guiding Light in 1952 and The Edge of Night. She portrayed featured character roles.
Wilson was also the model of the official poster for "America Welcomes the World", the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Celebration, in 1926.[4]
Personal life
She was once described as having a screen image of "the soft, marrying kind of woman"; in real life, however, she never married. She was chosen by Paramount Pictures to represent the motion picture industry at the British Empire Exposition of 1924. She was described as "a typical example of the American girl in character, culture and beauty".
Lois Wilson died of pneumonia at the Riverside Hospital for Skilled Care in Reno, Nevada at the age of 93.[2] She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Her funeral service was conducted at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, California.
Filmography
The following is a list of films that Lois Wilson either directed, acted in, wrote or produced:
Silent
The Hypocrite (1915) Lost
The New Adventures of Terence O'Rourke (1915)
The Palace of Dust (1915) (*short)
When a Queen Loved O'Rourke (1915) (*short)
The Road to Paradise (1915) (*short)
Langdon's Legacy (1916)
Married on the Wing (1916)
The Pool of Flame (1916)
The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916); Extant
The Gay Lord Waring (1916)
Hulda the Silent (1916)
A Son of the Immortals (1916)
The Decoy (1916/I) (*Mutual film)
The Silent Battle (1916)
He Wrote a Book (1916) (*short)
The Beckoning Trail (1916)
Arthur's Desperate Resolve (1916) (*short)
The White Man's Law (1916)
A Soul at Stake (1916) (*short)
The Decoy (1916) (*Universal film)
Her Chance (1916) (*short)
The Morals of Hilda (1916)
Green Eyes (1916) (*short)
Alone in the World (1917) Lost(*short: wrote, directed)
The Whispered Name (1917) (*short)
Black Evidence (1917) (*short)
Won by Grit (1917) (*short)
Flames of Treachery (1917) (*short)
Treason (1917)
Parentage (1917)
Alimony (1917)
A Man's Man (1918)
His Robe of Honor (1918)
The Turn of a Card (1918)
One Dollar Bid (1918)
Maid o' the Storm (1918)
A Burglar for a Night (1918)
The Bells (1918)
Prisoners of the Pines (1918)
Three X Gordon (1918)
The Drifters (1919) Lost
Come Again Smith (1919) Lost
The End of the Game (1919) Survives
Gates of Brass (1919) Lost
The Best Man (1919) Lost
A Man's Fight (1919) Lost
Love Insurance (1919) Lost
Why Smith Left Home (1919); Incomplete; Library of Congress
The Price Woman Pays (1919) Lost
It Pays to Advertise (1919) Lost
Too Much Johnson (1919) Lost
Who's Your Servant?(1920) Lost
Thou Art the Man (1920) Lost
The City of Masks (1920) Lost
What's Your Hurry? (1920); Extant; Gosfilmofond
A Full House (1920) Lost
Burglar Proof (1920) Lost
Midsummer Madness (1920); Extant;Library of Congress
What Every Woman Knows (1921); Lost
The City of Silent Men(1921) Lost
The Lost Romance (1921); Incomplete; Library of Congress
The Hell Diggers (1921) Lost
Miss Lulu Bett (1921); Extant; Library of Congress
The World's Champion (1922); Incomplete; Library of Congress
Is Matrimony a Failure? (1922) Lost
Our Leading Citizen (1922) Lost
Manslaughter (1922); Extant;Library of Congress, George Eastman House, other...
Broad Daylight (1922) Lost
Without Compromise (1922) Lost
The Covered Wagon (1923); Extant; Paramount Pictures
Bella Donna (1923); Extant;Gosfilmofond
Only 38 (1923) Lost
A Man's Man (1923) Lost
To the Last Man (1923)Extant; Gosfilmofond
Ruggles of Red Gap (1923) Lost
The Call of the Canyon (1923); Extant; Gosfilmofond 2010
Pied Piper Malone (1924); 'Extant; Gosfilmofond
Icebound (1924); Lost
Another Scandal (1924) Lost
The Man Who Fights Alone (1924)
Monsieur Beaucaire (1924); Extant; Library of Congress
North of 36 (1924); Extant; Library of Congress
Contraband (1925); Lost
The Thundering Herd (1925); Lost
Welcome Home (1925); Extant; Library of Congress
Marry Me (1925); uncredited; Lost
Rugged Water (1925); Lost
The Vanishing American (1925); Extant; Library of Congress
The King on Main Street (1925); Extant
Irish Luck (1925)Extant
Bluebeard's Seven Wives (1925); Lost
Let's Get Married (1926); Extant; Library of Congress
The Show-Off (1926); Extant; Library of Congress
The Great Gatsby (1926); Lost
New York (1927); Lost
Broadway Nights (1927); Lost)
The Gingham Girl (1927)
Alias the Lone Wolf (1927); Extant; UCLA Film & TV, per IMDb
French Dressing (1927); Lost
Coney Island (1928)
Miss Information (1928); *short
Ransom (1928); Lost
Sally's Shoulders (1928)
Sound
On Trial (1928); Lost
Conquest (1928); Lost
Object: Alimony (1928 Columbia) Lost
A Bird in the Hand (1929); *short; Incomplete; reel#2
Kid Gloves (1929); Lost; IMDb
The Gamblers (1929); Lost
Her Husband's Women (1929); *short
The Show of Shows (1929)Extant
Wedding Rings (1929); Lost
For Love or Money (1930) (*short;Extant UCLA unpreserved nitrate)
The Furies (1930) Lost
Lovin' the Ladies (1930)Extant; Library of Congress
Temptation (1930)Extant; Library of Congress
Once a Gentleman (1930) Lost
Seed (1931)
The Age for Love (1931) Lost
Law and Order (1932)Extant
The Expert (1932)Extant; Library of Congress
The Rider of Death Valley (1932)Extant
Drifting Souls (1932)Extant
Divorce in the Family (1932)Extant
The Crash (1932)Extant
The Devil Is Driving (1932)Extant
The Secrets of Wu Sin (1932)Extant
Obey the Law (1933)Extant; Library of Congress
Laughing at Life (1933)
Deluge (1933)Extant
In the Money (1933)
Female (1933)Extant
The Show-Off (1934)Extant
No Greater Glory (1934)
School for Girls (1934)
There's Always Tomorrow (1934)
Ticket to a Crime (1934)
Bright Eyes (1934)
Life Returns (1935)
Public Opinion (1935)
Born to Gamble (1935)
Society Fever (1935)
Cappy Ricks Returns (1935)
Your Uncle Dudley (1935)
The Return of Jimmy Valentine (1936)
Wedding Present (1936)
Laughing at Trouble (1936)
Bad Little Angel (1939)
Nobody's Children (1940)
For Beauty's Sake (1941)
The Girl from Jones Beach (1949)
References
^ AP. "Lois Wilson, Actress Of Stage, Television And Silent-Film Era"..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ ab "Lois Wilson, Actress of Stage, Television and Silent-Film Era". New York Times. Associated Press. March 10, 1988. Retrieved 2012-08-31.Lois Wilson, an actress who appeared in more than 100 early films including the 1923 Western epic The Covered Wagon, died of pneumonia on March 3 at Riverside Hospital for Skilled Care. She was 93 years old.
^ Lois Wilson profile, goldensilents.com; accessed 31 July 2015.
^ Ristine, James D. Philadelphia's 1926 Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition (Chicago: Arcadia Press, 2009)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lois Wilson (actress). |
Lois Wilson on IMDb
Lois Wilson at the Internet Broadway Database
Biodata, allmovie.com
Lois Wilson at Find a Grave
- Photographs and literature on Lois Wilson