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Blanche Sweet

Blanche Sweet

Acting

Born: June 16, 1896Chicago, Illinois, USA

From Wikipedia Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture film industry. Sweet is renowned for her energetic, independent roles, at variance with the 'ideal' Griffith type of vulnerable, often fragile, femininity. After many starring roles, her first real landmark film was the 1911 Griffith thriller The Lonedale Operator. In 1913 she starred in Griffith's first feature-length movie, Judith of Bethulia. In 1914 Sweet was initially cast by Griffith in the part of Elsie Stoneman in his epic The Birth of a Nation but the role was eventually given to rival actress Lillian Gish, who was Sweet's senior by three years. That same year Sweet parted ways with Griffith and joined Paramount (then Famous Players-Lasky) for the much higher pay that studio was able to afford. Throughout the 1910s, Sweet continued her career appearing in a number of highly prominent roles in films and remained a publicly popular leading lady. She often starred in vehicles by Cecil B. DeMille and Marshall Neilan, and she was recognised by leading film critics of the time to be one of the foremost actresses of the entire silent era. It was during her time working with Neilan that the two began a publicized affair, which brought on his divorce from former actress Gertrude Bambrick. Sweet and Neilan married in 1922. The union ended in 1929 with Sweet charging that Neilan was a persistent adulterer. During the early 1920s Sweet's career continued to prosper, and she starred in the first film version of Anna Christie in 1923. The film is also notable as being the first Eugene O'Neill play to be made into a motion picture. In successive years, she starred in Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Sporting Venus, both directed by Neilan. Sweet soon began a new career phase as one of the newly formed MGM studio's biggest stars. Sweet made just three talking pictures, including her critically lauded performance in 1930's Show Girl in Hollywood, before retiring from the screen that same year and marrying stage actor Raymond Hackett in 1935. The marriage lasted until Hackett's death in 1958. Sweet spent the remainder of her performing career in radio and in secondary Broadway stage roles. Eventually, her career in both of these fields petered out, and she began working in a Los Angeles department store. In the late 1960s, her acting legacy was resurrected when film scholars invited her to Europe to receive recognition for her work. On September 24, 1984, a tribute to Blanche Sweet was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Miss Sweet introduced her 1925 film, The Sporting Venus. Sweet died in New York City of a stroke, on September 6, 1986, just weeks after her 90th birthday.

Known For
Filmography
Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter

Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter

Narrator (voice)

1982

Make Mine Memories

1945
Twenty Years After

Twenty Years After

(archive footage)

1944
The Silver Horde

The Silver Horde

Queenie

1930
Show Girl in Hollywood

Show Girl in Hollywood

Donny Harris

1930
The Woman Racket

The Woman Racket

Julia Barnes Hayes

1930
Always Faithful

Always Faithful

Mrs. George W. Mason

1929

The Woman in White

Laura Fairlie / Anne Catherick

1929
Singed

Singed

Dolly Wall

1927
Diplomacy

Diplomacy

Dora Weymouth

1926
The Far Cry

The Far Cry

Claire Marsh

1926
Bluebeard's Seven Wives

Bluebeard's Seven Wives

Juliet

1926
The New Commandment

The New Commandment

Renee Darcourt

1925
Why Women Love

Why Women Love

Molla Hansen

1925
His Supreme Moment

His Supreme Moment

Carla King

1925

The Sporting Venus

Lady Gwendolyn

1925
Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Teresa "Tess" Durbeyfield

1924
Those Who Dance

Those Who Dance

Rose Carney

1924
Anna Christie

Anna Christie

Anna Christie

1923
In the Palace of the King

In the Palace of the King

Dolores Mendoza

1923
The Meanest Man in the World

The Meanest Man in the World

Jane Hudson

1923
Souls for Sale

Souls for Sale

Self - Celebrity Actress (uncredited)

1923
Quincy Adams Sawyer

Quincy Adams Sawyer

Alice Pettengill

1922
That Girl Montana

That Girl Montana

Montana Rivers

1921
Her Unwilling Husband

Her Unwilling Husband

Mavis

1920
Help Wanted - Male

Help Wanted - Male

Leona Stafford

1920
Girl in the Web

Girl in the Web

Esther Maitland

1920
Simple Souls

Simple Souls

Molly Shine

1920
The Deadlier Sex

The Deadlier Sex

Mary Willard

1920
Fighting Cressy

Fighting Cressy

Cressy

1919
A Woman of Pleasure

A Woman of Pleasure

Alice Dane

1919
The Hushed Hour

The Hushed Hour

Virginia Appleton Blodgett

1919
The Unpardonable Sin

The Unpardonable Sin

Alice Parcot / Dinny Parcot

1919
Those Without Sin

Those Without Sin

Melanie Landry

1917

The Evil Eye

Dr. Katherine Torrance

1917
The Storm

The Storm

Natalie Raydon

1916

Public Opinion

Hazel Gray

1916

The Thousand-Dollar Husband

Olga Nelson

1916
The Sowers

The Sowers

Karin Dolokhof

1916
The Ragamuffin

The Ragamuffin

Jenny

1916
The Secret Sin

The Secret Sin

Edith Martin / Grace Martin

1915
The Case of Becky

The Case of Becky

Dorothy/Becky

1915
The Secret Orchard

The Secret Orchard

Diane

1915
The Clue

The Clue

Christine Lesley

1915
Stolen Goods

Stolen Goods

Margery Huntley

1915
The Captive

The Captive

Sonya Matinovich

1915
The Warrens of Virginia

The Warrens of Virginia

Agatha Warren

1915
The Little Country Mouse

The Little Country Mouse

Dorothy

1914

The Odalisque

May, a Stock Girl

1914
The Tear That Burned

The Tear That Burned

Meg - the Wild Girl

1914

For Her Father's Sins

Mary Ashton

1914

Her Awakening

Mary

1914

The Second Mrs. Roebuck

Mabel Mack

1914
The Avenging Conscience

The Avenging Conscience

The Sweetheart

1914
Men and Women

Men and Women

Agnes Rodman - Stephen's Daughter

1914

The Painted Lady

Jane - the Elder Sister

1914
Home, Sweet Home

Home, Sweet Home

The Wife

1914
Strongheart

Strongheart

Dorothy Nelson, Frank's Sister

1914
Judith of Bethulia

Judith of Bethulia

Judith

1914

Classmates

Sylvia Randolph

1914
The House of Discord

The House of Discord

The Wife

1913

A Cure for Suffragettes

1913
Two Men of the Desert

Two Men of the Desert

The Authoress

1913
Death's Marathon

Death's Marathon

The Wife

1913
If We Only Knew

If We Only Knew

The Mother

1913

The Stolen Bride

The Grower's Daughter

1913

The Hero of Little Italy

Maria

1913
Near To Earth

Near To Earth

1913
Broken Ways

Broken Ways

The Road Agent's Wife

1913

Love in an Apartment Hotel

The Young Woman

1913

A Chance Deception

The Wife

1913
Oil and Water

Oil and Water

Mlle. Genova

1913

Pirate Gold

The Daughter

1913
Three Friends

Three Friends

The Wife

1913
The Coming of Angelo

The Coming of Angelo

Theresa

1913

The God Within

The Woman of the Camp

1912
The Massacre

The Massacre

Stephen's Ward

1912
A Sailor’s Heart

A Sailor’s Heart

The Sailor's Second Sweetheart

1912
The Painted Lady

The Painted Lady

The Older Sister

1912
The Chief's Blanket

The Chief's Blanket

The Young Woman

1912
Blind Love

Blind Love

The Young Woman

1912
With the Enemy's Help

With the Enemy's Help

The Prospector's Wife

1912
A Temporary Truce

A Temporary Truce

Alice Hardy - the Prospector's Wife

1912
The Lesser Evil

The Lesser Evil

The Young Woman

1912
One Is Business, the Other Crime

One Is Business, the Other Crime

Rich Wife

1912
The Goddess of Sagebrush Gulch

The Goddess of Sagebrush Gulch

The Goddess

1912
A String of Pearls

A String of Pearls

The Brother's Sweetheart

1912
Under Burning Skies

Under Burning Skies

Emily

1912
The Transformation of Mike

The Transformation of Mike

The Tenement Girl

1912
For His Son

For His Son

The Son's Fiancée

1912
The Eternal Mother

The Eternal Mother

Martha, the Wife

1912
The Voice of the Child

The Voice of the Child

The Wife

1911
A Woman Scorned

A Woman Scorned

1911
The Miser's Heart

The Miser's Heart

Neighbor

1911
Through Darkening Vales

Through Darkening Vales

Grace

1911
The Battle

The Battle

The Boy's Sweetheart

1911

Love in the Hills

The Mountain Girl

1911
The Long Road

The Long Road

Edith

1911
The Making of a Man

The Making of a Man

Young Woman

1911

The Villain Foiled

Miss Page

1911

The Blind Princess and the Poet

The Princess

1911
The Last Drop of Water

The Last Drop of Water

Mary

1911
A Country Cupid

A Country Cupid

Edith

1911
The Indian Brothers

The Indian Brothers

Indian

1911
Fighting Blood

Fighting Blood

1911
The Primal Call

The Primal Call

1911
Enoch Arden

Enoch Arden

Woman on the Beach

1911
Enoch Arden: Part I

Enoch Arden: Part I

1911

The New Dress

At Wedding/At Market

1911

How She Triumphed

Mary

1911

The Broken Cross

1911

The Spanish Gypsy

1911
The Lonedale Operator

The Lonedale Operator

Daughter of the Lonedale Operator

1911
His Daughter

His Daughter

1911

The Two Paths

1911
A Flash of Light

A Flash of Light

1910
All on Account of the Milk

All on Account of the Milk

The Maid

1910
The Rocky Road

The Rocky Road

1910
The Day After

The Day After

The New Year

1909
To Save Her Soul

To Save Her Soul

Stage Dancer

1909
A Corner in Wheat

A Corner in Wheat

1909