Ethel Clayton

Ethel Clayton

1882-11-08 – 1966-06-06 (age 83) Champaign, Illinois, USA
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Biography

From Wikipedia

Ethel Clayton (November 8, 1882 โ€” June 6, 1966) was an American actress of the silent film era.

Clayton's screen debut came in 1909, in a short called Justified. She jockeyed her early film appearances with a burgeoning stage career. Her pretty blond looks were reminiscent of the famous Gibson Girl drawings by Charles Dana Gibson. On the stage she appeared mainly in musicals or musical reviews such as The Ziegfeld Follies of 1911. These musical appearances indicate a singing talent Clayton may have possessed but went unused in her many silent screen performances.

In 1912 she appeared in "The Country Boy" on stage at the Lyceum Theatre in Rochester New York and made her feature length film debut in For the Love of a Girl. The film was directed by Barry O'Neil. She was cast with Harry Myers, Charles Arthur, and Peter Lang. She was also directed by William Demille, Robert G. Vignola, George Melford, Donald Crisp, Dallas M. Fitzgerald, and Clifford Sanforth. Like many silent film actors Clayton's career was hurt by the coming of sound to motion pictures. She continued her career in small parts in movies until she retired in 1948. Her screen credits number more than 180.

Clayton was first married to actor-director Joseph Kaufman until his death in 1918 in the Spanish Influenza epidemic. She later married silent film actor and former star Ian Keith twice and they divorced twice. In both cases Clayton cited cruelty and excessive drinking. Clayton and Keith were first married in Minneapolis in 1928 and first separated on January 13, 1931.

Ethel Clayton died on June 6, 1966 at St. John's Hospital in Oxnard, California, aged 83. She was buried at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura, California.

For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Ethel Clayton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Known For

Make Way for Tomorrow
Make Way for Tomorrow

1937

as Customer (uncredited)

The Major and the Minor
The Major and the Minor

1942

as Ball Guest (uncredited)

Yankee Pluck
Yankee Pluck

1917

as Polly Pollard

Waikiki Wedding
Waikiki Wedding

1937

as Tourist (uncredited)

Easy Living
Easy Living

1937

as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)

You and Me
You and Me

1938

as Employment Agency Clerk (uncredited)

Dixie
Dixie

1943

as Woman (uncredited)

Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo

1937

as Pioneer Woman

Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras

1943

as Mardi Gras Woman

The Wolf
The Wolf

1914

as Jules' Sweetheart

True to Life
True to Life

1943

as Woman (uncredited)

The Bondage of Fear
The Bondage of Fear

1917

as Vesta Wheatley

The All-American
The All-American

1932

as Mrs. Bowen

Yours for the Asking
Yours for the Asking

1936

as Casino Patron (uncredited)

Wealth
Wealth

1921

as Mary McLeod

If I Were King
If I Were King

1938

as Old Woman (uncredited)

Geronimo
The Bar-C Mystery
The Bar-C Mystery

1926

as Mrs. Lane

West Point Widow
West Point Widow

1941

as Nurse