Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Betty Blythe (born Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter, September 1, 1893 – April 7, 1972) was an American actress best known for her dramatic roles in exotic silent films such as The Queen of Sheba (1921). She appeared in 63 silent films and 56 talking pictures (known as talkies) over the course of her career. She is famous for being one of the first actresses to appear on film in the nude, or nearly so, during the Roaring Twenties. She is reported to have said, "A director is the only man besides your husband who can tell you how much of your clothes to take off." Blythe began her stage work in such theatrical pieces as So Long Letty and The Peacock Princess. She worked in vaudeville as the "California Nightingale" singing songs such as "Love Tales from Hoffman". After touring Europe and the States, she entered films in 1918 at the Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn, then she was brought to Hollywood's Fox studio as a replacement for actress Theda Bara. As famous for her revealing costumes as for her dramatic skills, she became a star in such exotic films as The Queen of Sheba (1921) (in which she wore nothing above the waist except a string of beads), Chu-Chin-Chow (made in 1923; released by MGM in the US 1925) and She (1925). She was also seen to good advantage in less revealing films like Nomads of the North (1920) with Lon Chaney and In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter (1924), produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Other roles were as an opera star, unbilled in Garbo's The Mysterious Lady. She continued to work as a character actress. One of her last roles was a small uncredited role in a crowd scene in 1964's My Fair Lady. Betty Blythe's name lives on through the Betty Blythe Vintage TeaRoom in West Kensington.
Acted in 108
1960s
- 1964
1950s
- 1956
Runaway Daughters
Party Guest (uncredited)
- 1950
Rebecca
Mrs. Danvers
1940s
- 1948
Luxury Liner
Miss Fenmoor (uncredited)
Shed No Tears
Mrs. Peet (Uncredited)
Letter from an Unknown Woman
Frau Kohner (uncredited)
Madonna of the Desert
Mrs. Brown
- 1947
Jiggs and Maggie in Society
Mrs. Vacuum
Something in the Wind
Society Matron (uncredited)
- 1946
Joe Palooka, Champ
Mrs. Stafford
The Undercover Woman
Cissy Van Horn
- 1945
Adventure
Mrs. Buckley (uncredited)
Docks of New York
Mrs. Darcy
- 1944
A Fig Leaf for Eve
Lavinia Sardham
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Mrs. Manning
- 1943
Mr. Muggs Steps Out
Movie
Bar 20
Mrs. Stevens
Spotlight Scandals
Mrs. Baker
Crime Doctor
Mrs. Harrington
Sarong Girl
Miss Ellsworth
Girls in Chains
Mrs. Grey
- 1942
Dawn on the Great Divide
Mrs. Elmira Corkle
Piano Mooner
Society Woman
House of Errors
Mrs. Martha Randall
Freckles Comes Home
Minerva Potter
Inflation
Next Door Neighbor Who Begins Hoarding (uncredited)
- 1941
Tuxedo Junction
Miss Hornblower
The Miracle Kid
Madame Gloria
Top Sergeant Mulligan
Mrs. Lewis
Puddin' Head
Mrs. Bowser
Sis Hopkins
Mrs. Farnsworth
Federal Fugitives
Marcia
- 1940
Misbehaving Husbands
Effie Butler
Earl of Puddlestone
Millicent Potter-Potter
1930s
- 1939
- 1938
Gangster's Boy
Mrs. Davis
Delinquent Parents
Mrs. Wharton
Romance of the Limberlost
Mrs. Parker
Hold That Kiss
Wedding Guest at Piermont's
Life in Sometown, U.S.A.
Mrs. Himber (uncredited)
- 1937
What Do You Think? (Number Two)
Movie
Espionage
Train Passenger
- 1936
Rainbow on the River
Flower Buyer (uncredited)
The Gorgeous Hussy
Mrs. Wainwright
Yours for the Asking
May (uncredited)
- 1935
Western Courage
Mrs. Hanley
The Spanish Cape Mystery
Mrs. Godfrey
Cheers of the Crowd
Lil Langdon Walton
The Perfect Clue
Ursula Chesebrough
I've Been Around
Betty
- 1934
Night Alarm
Mrs. Elizabeth Van Dusen
A Girl of the Limberlost
Mrs. Parker
Two Heads on a Pillow
Mrs. Agnes Walker
Money Means Nothing
Mrs. Ferris
Badge of Honor
Mrs. Claire van Alstyne
Ever Since Eve
Mrs. Vandergrift
- 1933
Before Midnight
Mavis Fry
Only Yesterday
Mrs. Vincent (Uncredited)
- 1932
Back Street
Gossip (uncredited)
Tom Brown of Culver
Dolores Delight
Lena Rivers
Mathilda Nichols
1920s
- 1928
Stolen Love
Modiste
Glorious Betsy
Princess Fredericka
Domestic Troubles
Carrie
- 1927
The Girl from Gay Paree
Mademoiselle Fanchon
A Million Bid
Mrs. Gordon
Snowbound
Julia Barry
- 1925
She
Ayesha
Percy
Lolita
- 1924
Folly of Vanity
Mrs. Ridgeway (modern sequence)
In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter
Rita Sismondi
The Breath of Scandal
Sybil Russell
Chu-Chin-Chow
Zahrat
The Spitfire
Jean Bronson
Southern Love
Dolores
- 1922
How Women Love
Rosa Roma
His Wife's Husband
Olympia Brewster
Fair Lady
Countess Margherita
- 1921
Disraeli
Movie
Charge It
Mille Garreth
Mother o' Mine
Fan Baxter
The Queen of Sheba
Queen of Sheba
- 1920
Nomads of the North
Nanette
Occasionally Yours
Bunny Winston
The Silver Horde
Mildred Wayland
Burnt Wings
Helen
The Third Generation
Helen Van Dusen
1910s
- 1919
The Undercurrent
Mariska
Beating the Odds
Hebe Norse
- 1918
The King of Diamonds
Lucille Bennett
The Green God
Muriel Temple
A Game with Fate
Elaine Huntington
The Business of Life
Elena Clydesdale
Over the Top
Madame Arnot
- 1916
Slander
Movie
Appearances2
1950s
- 1951
Hollywood Story
Herself
1930s
- 1931
Stars of Yesterday
Self