Nell Shipman

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Nell Shipman (October 25, 1892January 23, 1970) was a Canadian actress, screenwriter, producer, animal trainer, and a Canadian pioneer in early Hollywood.

Born Helen Foster-Barham in Victoria, British Columbia, she is best known for her work in James Oliver Curwood stories and for portraying strong, adventurous women. In 1919, she and her producer husband, Ernest Shipman (b. December 17, 1871; d. August 7, 1931), made the most successful silent film in Canadian history, Back to God's Country. She was the first woman eve in film history to do a nude scene when she did so in God's Country[1].

Shipman died in 1970 in Cabazon, California.

[edit] Filmography

(Either or all: writer/director/producer/star)

  • The Ball of Yarn (1910)
  • Outwitted by Billy (1913)
  • One Hundred Years of Mormonism (1913)
  • God's Country and the Woman (1915)
  • The Pine's Revenge (1915)
  • Under the Crescent (1915)
  • The Fires of Conscience (1916)
  • Through the Wall (1916)
  • Baree, Son of Kazan (1917)
  • The Black Wolf (1917)
  • My Fighting Gentleman (1917)
  • The Girl From Beyond (1918)
  • The Home Trail (1918)
  • Cavanaugh of the Forest Rangers (1918)
  • The Wild Strain (1918)
  • Back to God's Country (1919)
  • Something New (1920)
  • The Girl from God's Country (1921)
  • A Bear, A Boy and A Dog (1921)
  • The Grub Stake (1923)
  • The Light on Lookout (1923)
  • Trail of the North Wind (1923)
  • The Golden Yukon (1927)
  • Wings in the Dark (1935)
  • The Clam-Diggers's Daughter (1947)

Two informative books are Nell's autobiography, "The Silent Screen and My Talking Heart" and Joseph & Juanita Walker's "The Light On Her Face".

Several of Nell's films are available on video from Boise State University.

[edit] External link

  • Canadian Film Encyclopedia [A publication of The Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group]