Fanny Midgley (November 26, 1879-January 4, 1932) was an American film actress of Hollywood's early years, mostly in silent films.
Midgley was born Fanny B. Frier in
Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. The municipality is located north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border. The population within city limits was estimated to be 333,336 in 2008, making it the state's third largest city...
, making her move to Hollywood to pursue an acting career in the earliest days of film making, in 1911. Her first film role was alongside
Francis FordFrancis Ford was a prolific film actor, writer, and director. He was the older brother of film director John Ford. He also appeared in many of John Ford's movies, including Young Mr. Lincoln and The Quiet Man....
in the earliest film version of the
Battle of the AlamoThe Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal point in the Texas Revolution. Following a twelve-day siege, Mexican troops under the President of Mexico General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission in San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
, titled
The Immortal AlamoThe Immortal Alamo was an American silent film produced by Star Film Company and released on May 25, 1911. The Immortal Alamo is the earliest film version of the events surrounding the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. No known copies of the film exist today, and it is considered to be a lost film.The film...
, a film which today has no existing copies.
Fanny Midgley (November 26, 1879-January 4, 1932) was an American film actress of Hollywood's early years, mostly in silent films.
Midgley was born Fanny B. Frier in
Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. The municipality is located north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border. The population within city limits was estimated to be 333,336 in 2008, making it the state's third largest city...
, making her move to Hollywood to pursue an acting career in the earliest days of film making, in 1911. Her first film role was alongside
Francis FordFrancis Ford was a prolific film actor, writer, and director. He was the older brother of film director John Ford. He also appeared in many of John Ford's movies, including Young Mr. Lincoln and The Quiet Man....
in the earliest film version of the
Battle of the AlamoThe Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal point in the Texas Revolution. Following a twelve-day siege, Mexican troops under the President of Mexico General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission in San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
, titled
The Immortal AlamoThe Immortal Alamo was an American silent film produced by Star Film Company and released on May 25, 1911. The Immortal Alamo is the earliest film version of the events surrounding the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. No known copies of the film exist today, and it is considered to be a lost film.The film...
, a film which today has no existing copies. She had another three film roles in 1912 and 1913, then in 1914 her career took off. In 1914 alone she had twenty seven film appearances. That included
The Sheriff of Bisbee, in which she starred alongside actress
Mildred HarrisMildred Harris was an American actress of the silent film era.-Early life:Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Mildred Harris made her first screen appearances at the age of eleven in the Francis Ford and Thomas H...
, the future mother of
Charlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer Chaplin, KBE was an English comedic actor and film director. Chaplin became one of the most famous actors as well as a notable filmmaker, composer and musician in the early to mid Classical Hollywood era of American cinema.Chaplin acted in, directed, scripted, produced and...
's first child. From 1915 through 1919 she would appear in another thirty two films, mostly in supporting roles. Her last film appearance during that period was the 1919 film
The Lottery Man, in which she starred alongside
Wanda HawleyWanda Hawley , was a veteran of the silent screen films era. She co-starred with Rudolph Valentino in the 1922's The Young Rajah, and rose to stardom in a number of Cecil B...
and
Wallace ReidWallace Reid was an actor in silent film referred to by Motion Picture Magazine as "the screen's most perfect lover".-Early life:Born William Wallace Reid in St...
.
During the 1920s her career would slow somewhat, but she still stayed active, appearing in twenty two films between 1920 and 1926, with her biggest film role during that time being opposite
Rudolph ValentinoRudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, sex symbol, and early pop icon. Known as the "Latin Lover", he was one of the most popular stars of the 1920s, and one of the most recognized stars from the silent film era. He is best known for his work in The Sheik and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse...
in the 1922 film
The Young Rajah. From 1927 to 1929 her career almost completely halted compared to her previous years, with only five film appearances during that period, most notably opposite
Buddy RooseveltBuddy Roosevelt was an American film actor and stunt performer from Hollywood's early silent film years through the 1950s.-Biography:...
in
The Cowboy Cavalier in 1928.
She did transition somewhat successfully to "talking films", and appeared in the 1930 movie
The Poor Millionaire, starring
Richard TalmadgeRichard Talmadge was a Swiss-born American actor, stuntman and film director....
and
Constance HowardConstance Howard was an American silent film actress of the late 1920s and early 1930s.-Filmography:*Splendor .... Dinner Guest...
. In 1931 she appeared in
An American Tragedy, starring
Sylvia Sidney-Early life:Sidney, born Sophia Kosow in The Bronx, New York, was the daughter of Rebecca , a Romanian Jew, and Victor Kosow, a Russian Jewish immigrant who worked as a clothing salesman. Her parents divorced by 1915 and she was adopted by her stepfather, Sigmund Sidney, a dentist...
and
Phillips HolmesPhillips Holmes was an American film actor who appeared in 44 films between 1928 and 1938. His credits included Grumpy, An American Tragedy, Broken Lullaby, Dinner at Eight, and Great Expectations....
. Fanny Midgley died unexpectedly at the age of 52 on January 4, 1932, in Hollywood.