Betty Ross Clarke

Born: 1892-05-01

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Betty Ross Clarke (born May Clarke, May 1, 1892 – January 24, 1970) was an American stage and film actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1920 and 1940, including silent and sound films, in both credited and uncredited roles. During the 1920s, Clarke appeared in 14 silent films, including 11 U.S. films, two British films and one German film. In the United States, she worked for film companies that included Famous Players-Lasky, Thomas H. Ince, and Vitagraph Studios. She played the female lead in the film If I Were King opposite William Farnum and had other starring roles in silent films. Clarke's first screen role in a "talkie" was as the character Dot Aldrich in The Age for Love. During the 1930s, she appeared in more than 20 sound films, including both feature films and short films. She typically played character roles, both credited and uncredited. Of note, she replaced the actress Sara Haden as Aunt Millie in two feature length Andy Hardy films. Betty Ross Clarke was occasionally billed in screen credits as "Betsy Ross Clarke" or "Betty Ross Clark," and her name appears as "Betty Ross-Clarke" in some databases, such as the Internet Broadway Database. Throughout her career, Clarke often performed on both the theater stage and in films during the same time period. A newspaper advertisement in 1922 noted that audience members could "see her on stage and screen at the same time," because she was performing in the play The Morning Him and also starring in the film At the Sign of the Jack O'Lantern. Commenting on the difference between stage and film acting, Clarke remarked that the "silent drama affords an easier life to those who choose it, for one has the nights free, to do as one likes. On the boards an actor's or actresses's time is always taken up." Most of the silent films in which Clarke appeared have not survived. However, the films If I Were King and Mother o' Mine are preserved in the silent film archive of the Library of Congress. A print of Mother o' Mine is also housed in the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The silent film Traveling Salesman, with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in the leading role, can be found in the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection in Rochester, New York. Many of the later sound films in which she appeared are still available, including Murders in the Rue Morgue, A Bride for Henry, Love Finds Andy Hardy, Judge Hardy's Children, and Four Wives.


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Murders in the Rue Morgue

as Mme. L'Espanaye
Released: 1932-01-27

In 19th century Paris, a maniac abducts young women and injects them with ape blood in an...

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Love Finds Andy Hardy

as Millie Forrest
Released: 1938-07-22

Andy Hardy becomes entangled with three different girls all at the same time.

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Judge Hardy's Children

as Millie Forrest
Released: 1938-03-26

Judge Hardy takes a business trip to Washington, DC, where Andy promptly falls for the French...

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Three Married Men

as Annie
Released: 1936-09-24

Jennie Mullins and her fiancé Peter Cary are happily in love but their families are miserable...

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Four Wives

as Nurse in Dr. Forrest's Office (uncredited)
Released: 1939-12-22

In this sequel to Four Daughters, Ann struggles to move on after the death of her husband as...

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Too Hot to Handle

as Mrs. Harding
Released: 1938-09-16

While in Shanghai reporting on the Sino-Japanese war, Chris Hunter, a shrewd news reporter,...

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A Night at the Movies

as Wife (uncredited)
Released: 1937-11-06

A Night at the Movies is a short film starring Robert Benchley. It was Benchley's greatest...

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Woman Against Woman

as Alice
Released: 1938-06-24

A newlywed unhappily discovers that her husband's scheming ex-wife still has a controlling...

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Untamed

as Mother (uncredited)
Released: 1940-07-24

A courageous doctor braves a fierce blizzard in the Canadian wilderness to save a remote...

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Brewster's Millions

as Peggy
Released: 1921-01-28

Monte Brewster learns that he has inherited $10 million from his late grandfather, but then...

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If I Were King

as Katherine de Vaucelles
Released: 1920-08-09

J. Gordon Edwards silent adventure melodrama about a famous poet who is allowed to rule France...

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A Bride for Henry

as Mrs. Curtis
Released: 1937-09-29

On the day of her wedding a young woman's fiancé doesn't show up, sleeping off the results of...

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Hold That Kiss

as Wedding Guest at Piermont's
Released: 1938-05-13

Two young people meet at a wedding and begin dating, each thinking the other is extremely...

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Blossoms On Broadway

as Mrs. Peagram (uncredited)
Released: 1937-11-19

A young singer hopes to become a success on Broadway.

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The Chaser

as Secretary
Released: 1938-07-29

A sleazy lawyer gains clients by showing up at terrible accidents. His boss, determined to stop...

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The Age for Love

as Dot Aldrich
Released: 1931-10-17

A comedy-drama about marriage and divorce. A wife does not want children, her husband leaves her...

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The Fox

as Annette Fraser
Released: 1921-07-24

Santa Fe, a tramp, is saved from a jeering mob in the desert town of Caliente by Annette, the...

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The Public Pays

as Paige's Secretary (uncredited)
Released: 1936-10-10

In this MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short, a protection racket preying on milk distribution is...

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The Man from Downing Street

as Doris Burnham
Released: 1922-04-02

Someone in India is deciphering secret codes and passing information from London's Downing...

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Headline Shooter

as Sue, Mike's Wife (uncredited)
Released: 1933-07-28

A newsreel photographer neglects his love life to get the perfect shot.

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Another Romance of Celluloid

as Self (uncredited)
Released: 1938-02-05

This second entry in MGM's "Romance of Film" series documents how celluloid movie film is...

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Traveling Salesman

as Beth Elliott
Released: 1921-06-05

A practical joke makes a man get off before his intended stop, leading to all sorts of trouble.

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Romance

as uncredited
Released: 1920-05-16

A young man planning to marry receives a cautionary tale from his bishop based on the sad tale...

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