Blanche Sweet

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Blanche Sweet

Sarah Blanche Sweet (born June 18, 1896 in Chicago , Illinois , † September 6, 1986 in New York City ) was an American film actress whose career had already reached its peak in the early days of silent films .

Career

She was born into a family of vaudeville actors and performed regularly as a child. In 1909 she began her film career at Biograph and quickly became one of the leading actresses in DW Griffith's films . In 1911, she starred as the young mother in The Last Drop of Water . She played alongside Robert Harron and Charles West, with whom she was particularly frequently cast.

Blanche Sweets roles were mostly energetic, independent types of women who, in their external appearance, however, also corresponded to the "Griffith ideal" of the vulnerable and fragile woman, as it was preferably portrayed by Mae Marsh or Lillian Gish . Her most important leading role was as Judith in Griffith's first feature film Judith von Bethulien from 1914.

In 1915 she left Biographer and went to Famous Players-Lasky , where she appeared in films by Cecil B. DeMille and Marshall Neilan . The contemporary film critics considered her one of the most outstanding actresses of the entire silent film era because of her versatility. With Neilan developed a publicly acclaimed liaison and they married in 1922. In the following year 1923 Sweet starred in the lead role of Anna Christie in the first film adaptation of the play by Eugene O'Neill . From 1924 she worked for the newly founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was the star in Neilan's films Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Sporting Venus , in which Ronald Colman was her partner.

Towards the end of the silent film era, her popularity waned and she only appeared in three sound films . In 1930 she withdrew from the film business entirely.

The marriage with Neilan ended in 1929; Sweet accused Neilan of constant adultery. In 1936 she married the stage actor Raymond Hackett, with whom she stayed until his death in 1958. Professionally, she worked on radio and in supporting roles on Broadway . When she couldn't get any more jobs, she even worked temporarily in a department store in Los Angeles . In the late 1960s she was recognized as a pioneer of American film, particularly by European film students. She died at the age of 90 after a stroke.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1909: A Corner in Wheat
  • 1911: The Last Drop of Water
  • 1911: The Battle
  • 1912: For His Son
  • 1912: One is Business, the Other Crime
  • 1912: The Lesser Evil
  • 1913: The Massacre
  • 1913: Judith of Bethulien (Judith of Bethulia)
  • 1914: Home, Sweet Home
  • 1923: Anna Christie
  • 1924: Tess of the D'Urbervilles
  • 1924: The Sporting Venus
  • 1930: Showgirl in Hollywood

Web links

Commons : Blanche Sweet  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sweet, Blanche . filmreference.com. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Sweet, Blanche
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sweet, Sarah Blanche (full name); Wayne, Daphne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American silent film actress
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois , United States
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 1986
Place of death New York City , New York , United States