Betty Blythe
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.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (50)
My Fair Lady
as Lady at Ball (uncredited)
1964
Runaway Daughters
as Party Guest (uncredited)
1956
Hollywood Story
as Herself
1951
Luxury Liner
as Miss Fenmoor (uncredited)
1948
Shed No Tears
as Mrs. Peet (Uncredited)
1948
Letter from an Unknown Woman
as Frau Kohner (uncredited)
1948
Madonna of the Desert
as Mrs. Brown
1948
Jiggs and Maggie in Society
as Mrs. Vacuum
1947
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
as Floor Manager (uncredited)
1947
Something in the Wind
as Society Matron (uncredited)
1947
Undercurrent
as Saleslady (uncredited)
1946
Joe Palooka, Champ
as Mrs. Stafford
1946
The Postman Always Rings Twice
as Customer (uncredited)
1946
The Undercover Woman
as Cissy Van Horn
1946
Adventure
as Mrs. Buckley (uncredited)
1945
They Were Expendable
as Officer's Wife (uncredited)
1945
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
as Mrs. Murdock (uncredited)
1945
Docks of New York
as Mrs. Darcy
1945
A Fig Leaf for Eve
as Lavinia Sardham
1944
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
as Mrs. Manning
1944
Mr. Muggs Steps Out
1943
Bar 20
as Mrs. Stevens
1943
Spotlight Scandals
as Mrs. Baker
1943
Crime Doctor
as Mrs. Harrington
1943
Sarong Girl
as Miss Ellsworth
1943
Girls in Chains
as Mrs. Grey
1943
Presenting Lily Mars
as Dowager
1943
Dawn on the Great Divide
as Mrs. Elmira Corkle
1942
Piano Mooner
as Society Woman
1942
House of Errors
as Mrs. Martha Randall
1942
Freckles Comes Home
as Minerva Potter
1942
Inflation
as Next Door Neighbor Who Begins Hoarding (uncredited)
1942
Tuxedo Junction
as Miss Hornblower
1941
The Miracle Kid
as Madame Gloria
1941
Top Sergeant Mulligan
as Mrs. Lewis
1941
Honky Tonk
as Mrs. Wilson
1941
Our Wife
as Minor Role (uncredited)
1941
Puddin' Head
as Mrs. Bowser
1941
Sis Hopkins
as Mrs. Farnsworth
1941
Federal Fugitives
as Marcia
1941
Misbehaving Husbands
as Effie Butler
1940
Earl of Puddlestone
as Millicent Potter-Potter
1940
The Women
as Mrs. South (uncredited)
1939
Gangster's Boy
as Mrs. Davis
1938
Delinquent Parents
as Mrs. Wharton
1938
Romance of the Limberlost
as Mrs. Parker
1938
Hold That Kiss
as Wedding Guest at Piermont's
1938
Life in Sometown, U.S.A.
as Mrs. Himber (uncredited)
1938
What Do You Think? (Number Two)
1937
Topper
as Mrs. Goodrich (uncredited)
1937