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List of memorable actresses of the silent era. Excluding child actresses and those with less than 5-10 silent films.
Who are the top silent film actresses in the world? This includes the most prominent silent film actresses, living and dead, both in America and abroad. Silent film buffs will also enjoy the best silent films available for online streaming and the best horror films from the 1920s silent era. This list of notable silent film actresses is ordered ...
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- Signing Up to Be A Star
- "Pardon Me," She blushed. and Then She Blushed again. – The Ingénue
- OH No, Tied to The Train Tracks Again! – The Heroine
- Not A Dumb Dora, But The Cat’S Pajamas. – The Flapper
- A Bad Girl with A Worse reputation. – The Vamp
- Playing A Role in Popular Culture
From Nickelodeons to full-length feature films and from silent films to talkies, as writers, directors, actors, and audience members, women influenced the trajectory of the film industry. Female stardom was an essential component of its rise, though many of these women were celebrated more for their appearances than for their acting ability. While ...
Feature films starring heroines enjoyed tremendous popularity. Perhaps the most famous star of the early era—and one of the largest box offices draws in films history—was Mary Pickford. Pickford was among the first women to star on film, getting her start at Biograph studios with D.W. Griffith, the director who would make her famous. She developed ...
In direct contrast to the ingénue was as the heroine, a woman who faced down danger with resilience and determination. Serials were recurring films that featured the same character moving through a continuing storyline. Serials popularized the cliffhanger, hoping to lure audience members back to the theater for the next installment. Young working w...
Sweet ingénues faded in popularity in the mid-1920s eclipsed by the flapper character. One of the most memorable film heroines of the 1920s was not a virginal innocent but the flapper or “It” girl. The flapper was the antithesis of the Victorian ideal of a quiet, demure woman bound to the home and the domestic ideal. She was a modern, young, urban ...
While the flapper represented a new, more open portrayal of female sexuality, another female stereotype, the vamp, brought the image of a sexually aggressive woman to the screen. Short for vampire, the vamp was exotic, luxurious, and escapist, epitomizing the excess of the Roaring Twenties. Her suggestive clothing and sexual allure carried the conn...
By the early 1930s, American culture and the film industry were inextricably linked. While most industries struggled during the Great Depression, Hollywood boomed. Americans turned to movies to escape from the hardships of their lives into the imaginary worlds of beautiful people, slapstick comedy, and happy endings. Women would continue to be at t...
Jul 3, 2024 · These famous female silent film actresses etched their names into the annals of film history with their exceptional prowess with their craft and talent. They played characters that resonated on a universal scale, setting standard for future generations.
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- Senior Editor
- Charlie Chaplin. No actor is more related to the Silent Era than Sir Charles Chaplin. Often called the best comedian in film history, Chaplin became an international icon thanks to his on-screen persona, "The Tramp," a character he introduced in the eponymous 1915 silent film.
- Buster Keaton. One of the earliest proponents of slapstick and deadpan comedy, Buster Keaton is among the greatest comedians ever to grace the silver screen.
- Mary Pickford. "The Woman Who Built Hollywood;" that was the nickname given to the iconic Mary Pickford. Possibly the earliest example of "America's sweetheart," Pickford was the female star of the silent era, famous for playing croquettes and ingenues in hugely successful films like Tess of the Storm County and The Poor Little Rich Girl.
- Douglas Fairbanks. Douglas Fairbanks was the quintessential star of the 1920s. Starring in some of the best classic fantasy films, Fairbanks became known as a swashbuckler thanks to roles in films like the seminal The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mask of Zorro.
Silent film actresses by nationality. 20th-century American actresses. Hidden categories: Template Category TOC via Automatic category TOC on category with 901–1200 pages. Automatic category TOC generates standard Category TOC.
Considered one of the most beautiful actresses of the silent era, Olive Borden was a Mack Sennett bathing beauty at 15 and reached the peak of her career in 1926 when she made 11 films for Fox Studios and was earning $1,500 a week. Refusing to take a salary cut, Borden abruptly left Fox in 1928 and made only a few pictures for other studios ...
