Lila Lee

Lila Lee (July 25, 1901 - November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress of the early silent film era. Image File history File links Lila Lee circa 1920. ... Image File history File links Lila Lee circa 1920. ... is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. ...

Early life

Lila Lee was born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel in Union Hill, New Jersey into a middle-class family of German immigrants who relocated to New York City when Lila was quite young. Searching for a hobby for their gregarious young daughter, the Appels enrolled Lila in Gus Edwards' kiddie review shows where she was given the nickname of "Cuddles"; a name that she would be known by for the rest of her acting career. Her stagework became so popular with the public that her parents had her educated with private tutors. Edwards would become Lee's long-term manager. Union Hill is a section of Denville Township in Morris County, New Jersey. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Gus Edwards (August 18, 1879 - November 7, 1945) was a songwriter and vaudevillian. ...

Career

In 1918 she was chosen for a film contract by Hollywood film mogul Jesse Lasky for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which later became Paramount Pictures. Her first feature The Cruise of the Make-Believes garnered the seventeen year old starlet much public acclaim and Lasky quickly sent Lee on an arduous publicity campaign. Critics lauded Lila for her wholesome persona and sympathetic character parts. Lee quickly rose to the ranks of leading lady and often starred opposite such matinee heavies as Conrad Nagel, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Reid, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, and Rudolph Valentino. Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 - January 13, 1958) was a pioneer Hollywood film producer. ... The Paramount Pictures logo used from 1987 to 1995. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... A sympathetic character is a fictional character in a story which possesses qualities that are likable by the observer, such as fairness, trustworthiness, honor, bravery, attractiveness, etc. ... Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 - February 24, 1970) was a successful American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. ... Gloria Swanson (March 27, 1899 - April 4, 1983), was an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-winning American Hollywood actress. ... Wallace Reid Wallace Reid, born April 15, 1891 in St. ... Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle (March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film comedian. ... Rudolph Valentino (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926) was an Italian actor. ...

In 1922 Lee was cast as Carmen in the enormously popular film Blood and Sand, opposite matinee idol Rudolph Valentino and silent screen vamp Nita Naldi; Lee subsequently won the first WAMPAS Baby Stars award that year. Lee continued to be a highly popular leading lady throughout the 1920's and made scores of critically praised and widely watched films. Blood and Sand was a 1922 silent movie directed by Fred Niblo and starring Rudolph Valentino, Lila Lee and Nita Naldi. ... Rudolph Valentino (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926) was an Italian actor. ... Nita Naldi Nita Naldi (April 1, 1897 - February 17, 1961) was one of the most successful silent film actresses of the Roaring Twenties. ... The WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1932. ...

As the Roaring Twenties drew to a close, Lee's popularity began to wane and Lee positioned herself for the transition to talkies. She is one of the few leading ladies of the silent screen who did not nosedive with the coming of sound. She went back to working with the major studios and appeared, most notably, in The Unholy Three, in 1930, opposite Lon Chaney Sr. For the film, see The Roaring Twenties. ... Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera Lon Chaney, Sr. ...

 in his only talkie. However, a series of bad career choices and bouts of recurring tuberculosis and alcoholism hindered further projects and Lee was relegated to taking parts in mostly grade B-movies. 

Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or Tuberculosis) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... The term B-movie originally referred to a film designed to be distributed as the lower half of a double feature, often a genre film featuring cowboys, gangsters or vampires. ...

Personal life

Lila was married and divorced three times, including a marriage to actor James Kirkwood, Sr. in 1923. However, the union ended in divorce in 1931. Lee and Kirkwood had a son in 1930 named James Kirkwood, Jr. who became a highly regarded playwright and screenwriter whose works include A Chorus Line and P.S. Your Cat Is Dead. James Kirkwood, Jr. ... A Chorus Line is a musical with a book by James Kirkwood, Jr. ... Poster for the 2002 film P.S. Your Cat Is Dead is a novel, a play and a movie written by James Kirkwood, Jr. ...

Lee made several uneventful stage plays in the 1940s and starred in early television soap operas in the 1950s. In 1973 Lee died of a stroke at Saranac Lake, New York. For her contribution as an actress in motion pictures, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1716 Vine Street, in Hollywood, California. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... Saranac Lake is a village located in the state of New York. ... This article is about the state. ... Buskers perform on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

Filmography

Male and Female is a 1919 silent film directed by Cecil B. Demille. ...

External links

• Lila Lee at the Internet Movie Database
• Silent Ladies & Gents
• Golden Silents
• Lila Lee at Find A Grave
• Lila Lee interview with the Columbia University Oral History Research Office