Betty Ross Clarke
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.
Murders in the Rue Morgue
as Mme. L'EspanayeIn 19th century Paris, a maniac abducts young women and injects them with ape blood in an...
Movie pageLove Finds Andy Hardy
as Millie ForrestAndy Hardy becomes entangled with three different girls all at the same time.
Movie pageJudge Hardy's Children
as Millie ForrestJudge Hardy takes a business trip to Washington, DC, where Andy promptly falls for the French...
Movie pageThree Married Men
as AnnieJennie Mullins and her fiancé Peter Cary are happily in love but their families are miserable...
Movie pageFour Wives
as Nurse in Dr. Forrest's Office (uncredited)In this sequel to Four Daughters, Ann struggles to move on after the death of her husband as...
Movie pageToo Hot to Handle
as Mrs. HardingWhile in Shanghai reporting on the Sino-Japanese war, Chris Hunter, a shrewd news reporter,...
Movie pageA Night at the Movies
as Wife (uncredited)A Night at the Movies is a short film starring Robert Benchley. It was Benchley's greatest...
Movie pageWoman Against Woman
as AliceA newlywed unhappily discovers that her husband's scheming ex-wife still has a controlling...
Movie pageUntamed
as Mother (uncredited)A courageous doctor braves a fierce blizzard in the Canadian wilderness to save a remote...
Movie pageBrewster's Millions
as PeggyMonte Brewster learns that he has inherited $10 million from his late grandfather, but then...
Movie pageIf I Were King
as Katherine de VaucellesJ. Gordon Edwards silent adventure melodrama about a famous poet who is allowed to rule France...
Movie pageA Bride for Henry
as Mrs. CurtisOn the day of her wedding a young woman's fiancé doesn't show up, sleeping off the results of...
Movie pageHold That Kiss
as Wedding Guest at Piermont'sTwo young people meet at a wedding and begin dating, each thinking the other is extremely...
Movie pageBlossoms On Broadway
as Mrs. Peagram (uncredited)A young singer hopes to become a success on Broadway.
Movie pageThe Chaser
as SecretaryA sleazy lawyer gains clients by showing up at terrible accidents. His boss, determined to stop...
Movie pageThe Age for Love
as Dot AldrichA comedy-drama about marriage and divorce. A wife does not want children, her husband leaves her...
Movie pageThe Fox
as Annette FraserSanta Fe, a tramp, is saved from a jeering mob in the desert town of Caliente by Annette, the...
Movie pageThe Public Pays
as Paige's Secretary (uncredited)In this MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short, a protection racket preying on milk distribution is...
Movie pageThe Man from Downing Street
as Doris BurnhamSomeone in India is deciphering secret codes and passing information from London's Downing...
Movie pageHeadline Shooter
as Sue, Mike's Wife (uncredited)A newsreel photographer neglects his love life to get the perfect shot.
Movie pageAnother Romance of Celluloid
as Self (uncredited)This second entry in MGM's "Romance of Film" series documents how celluloid movie film is...
Movie pageTraveling Salesman
as Beth ElliottA practical joke makes a man get off before his intended stop, leading to all sorts of trouble.
Movie pageRomance
as uncreditedA young man planning to marry receives a cautionary tale from his bishop based on the sad tale...
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