Lois Wilson (actress)

Lois Wilson

Lois Wilson, 1923
Born June 28, 1894(1894-06-28)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Died March 3, 1988(1988-03-03) (aged 93)
Reno, Nevada, USA
Occupation Actress
Years active 1915-1952

Lois Wilson (June 28, 1894 - March 3, 1988) was an American actress best known for her work during the silent film era. She also directed two short films and was a scenario writer.

Contents

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. Wilson moved to California when she won a beauty contest put on by Universal Studios and the Birmingham News in 1915. 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 secured a small part in The Dumb Girl of Portici, which starred the ballerina Anna Pavlova.

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 such leading male stars of her era as Rudolph Valentino and John Gilbert.

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 Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Celebration's official poster, "America Welcomes the World" in 1926.[1]

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 Riverside Hospital for Skilled Care in Reno, Nevada on March 3, 1988. She was 93 years old. 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.

Partial Filmography

Silent

  • The Hypocrite (1915)(*director, actor)debut
  • The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916 Universal) (Extant)
  • Alone in the World (1917 Universal) (*director, writer)
  • The Drifters (1919 W.W. Hodkinson, Pathe Exchange)
  • Come Again Smith (1919 W.W. Hodkins, Pathe Exchange)
  • The End of the Game (1919 W.W. Hodkinson, Pathe Exchange)
  • Gates of Brass (1919 FrankKeenan/Pathe Exchange)
  • The Best Man (1919 W.W. Hodkinson, Pathe Exchange)
  • A Man's Fight (1919 United Picture Theatres of America)
  • Love Insurance (1919 Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount)
  • Why Smith Left Home (1919 Paramount) (Incomplete; Library of Congress)
  • The Price Woman Pays (1919 L.L. Hiller)
  • It Pays to Advertise (1919 Paramount)
  • Too Much Johnson (1919 Paramount)
  • Who's Your Servant?(1920 Robertson-Cole)
  • Thou Art the Man (1920 Paramount-Artcraft)
  • The City of Masks (1920 Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount)
  • What's Your Hurry? (1920 Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount)(Lost)
  • A Full House (1920 Paramount-Artcraft)
  • Burglar Proof (1920 Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount)
  • Midsummer Madness (1920 Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount)(Extant;Library of Congress)
  • What Every Woman Knows (1921)(Lost)
  • The City of Silent Men(1921 Paramount)
  • The Lost Romance (1921 Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount)(Incomplete; Library of Congress)
  • The Hell Diggers (1921 Paramount)
  • Miss Lulu Bett (1921 Paramount)(Extant; Library of Congress)
  • The World's Champion (1922 Paramount) (Incomplete; Library of Congress)
  • Is Matrimony a Failure? (1922 Paramount)
  • Our Leading Citizen (1922 Paramount)
  • Manslaughter (1922 Paramount)(Extant;Library of Congress, George Eastman House, other...)
  • Broad Daylight (1922 Universal)
  • Without Compromise (1922 Fox)
  • The Covered Wagon (1923 Paramount)(Extant; Paramount Pictures)
  • Bella Donna (1923 Paramount)(?Extant;Gosfilmofond)
  • Only 38 (1923 Paramount)
  • A Man's Man (1923 FBO)
  • To the Last Man (1923 Paramount)
  • Ruggles of Red Gap (1923 Paramount)
  • The Call of the Canyon (1923 Paramount)(Extant; Gosfilmofond 2010)
  • Pied Piper Malone (1924 Paramount)
  • Icebound (1924 Paramount)(Lost)
  • Another Scandal (1924 Tilford/WW Hodkinson,PDC)
  • The Man Who Fights Alone (1924 Paramount)
  • Monsieur Beaucaire (1924 Paramount)(Extant; Library of Congress)
  • North of 36 (1924 Paramount) (Extant; Library of Congress)
  • Contraband (1925 Paramount)(Lost)
  • The Thundering Herd (1925 Paramount)(Lost)
  • Welcome Home (1925 Paramount) (Extant; Library of Congress)
  • Marry Me (1925 Paramount)(uncredited)(Lost)
  • Rugged Water (1925 Paramount)(Lost)
  • The Vanishing American (1925 Paramount) (Extant; Library of Congress)
  • The King on Main Street (1925 Paramount) (Extant)
  • Irish Luck (1925 Paramount)
  • Bluebeard's Seven Wives (1925 First National) (Lost)
  • Let's Get Married (1926 Paramount) (Extant; Library of Congress)
  • The Show Off (1926 Paramount)(Extant; Library of Congress)
  • The Great Gatsby (1926 Paramount)(Lost)
  • New York (1927 Paramount)(Lost)
  • Broadway Nights (1927 First National)(Lost)
  • The Gingham Girl (1927 FBO)
  • Alias the Lone Wolf (1927 Columbia)(Extant; UCLA Film & TV, per IMDb)
  • French Dressing (1927 First National)(Lost)
  • Coney Island (1928 FBO)
  • Miss Information (1928 Vitaphone Co./Warner Brothers)(*short)
  • Ransom (1928 Columbia)(Lost)
  • Sally's Shoulders (1928 FBO)

Sound

  • On Trial (1928 Warner Brothers)(Lost)
  • Conquest (1928 Warner Brothers)(Lost; per IMDb)
  • Object: Alimony (1928 Columbia)
  • A Bird in the Hand (1929 Al Christie/Paramount)(*short)(Incomplete; reel#2,per silentera.com)
  • Kid Gloves (1929 Warner Brothers)(Lost; IMDb)
  • The Gamblers (1929 Warner Brothers)(Lost;IMDb)
  • Her Husband's Women (1929 Al Christie/Paramount) (*short)
  • The Show of Shows (1929 Warner Brothers)
  • Wedding Rings (1930 First National/Warner Brothers) (Lost; IMDb)
  • For Love or Money (1930)
  • Seed (1931)
  • Bright Eyes (1934)

References

  1. ^ Ristine, James D. Philadelphia's 1926 Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition (Chicago: Arcadia Press, 2009)

External links