Gladys Walton
American silent film actress (1903–1993)
title: "Gladys Walton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1903-births", "1993-deaths", "american-child-actresses", "american-film-actresses", "american-silent-film-actresses", "american-stage-actresses", "deaths-from-cancer-in-california", "actresses-from-boston", "20th-century-american-actresses"] description: "American silent film actress (1903–1993)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_Walton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American silent film actress (1903–1993) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Gladys Walton |
| image | Gladys Walton, silent film actress (SAYRE 10723).jpg |
| caption | Walton in 1922 |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Morro Bay, California, U.S. |
| occupation | Actress |
| years_active | 1919–1925 |
| spouse | |
| children | 6 |
| signature | Gladys Walton signature - Apr 1921.png |
| :: |
| name = Gladys Walton | image = Gladys Walton, silent film actress (SAYRE 10723).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Walton in 1922 | birth_date = | birth_name = | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Morro Bay, California, U.S. | resting_place = Indian Cemetery Road, Woodfords, Alpine County, California, U.S. | citizenship = | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1919–1925 | spouse = | children = 6 | mother = | relatives = | website = | signature = Gladys Walton signature - Apr 1921.png
Gladys Walton (April 13, 1903 – November 15, 1993) was an American silent film actress.
Early life and career
Born in Boston, Massachusetts and educated in Portland, Oregon, Gladys Walton debuted in films at the Fox Sunshine comedy studio's in 1919, doing small parts in their comedy short films. As her acting talent came more out into the open, she was given larger and more important roles in films, such as La La Lucille in 1920 with Universal Studios, as well as The Secret Gift, also in 1920. She was also given her first starring role in Pink Tights (1920), opposite film star Jack Perrin. She was a contract player for Universal from 1920 to 1923, completing 28 films and earning $600 a week at the peak of her career. After leaving Universal she went on to do a few independent films. Only 5 of her 38 films exist: Pink Tights from 1920, All Dolled Up from 1921, The Untameable and Sawdust both from 1923, and A Little Girl in a Big City, released in 1925.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Gladys_Walton_stars.jpg" caption="Walton in 1924."] ::
Walton retired from acting in 1925. Gladys has been said to have done theater productions, but this is untrue. There were in fact two Gladys Waltons performing in the early 1920's. One was a theater actress on the East Coast, doing traveling stage productions, while the movie star Gladys was making films on the West Coast. Writers of the time often confused the two.
Personal life
Walton married screenwriter Frank Liddell in 1920. She later married Henry M. Herbel in 1923, with whom she had six children. She later married Spiro (Samuel) Dilles and Kenneth James Wells. All the marriages ended in divorce.
Death
Walton died of cancer on November 15, 1993, aged 90. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Rich_Girl,Poor_Girl(1921)_-_1.jpg" caption="Walton in ''[[Rich Girl, Poor Girl]]'' (1921)"] ::
Filmography
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Risky_Business_(1920)_-_Gladys_Walton.jpg" caption="Gladys Walton in ''Risky Business'' (1920)"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/High_Heels_lobby_card.jpg" caption="Lobby card for ''High Heels'' (1921)"] ::
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays | Lost film | |
| 1920 | La La Lucille | Peggy Hughes | Lost film |
| The Secret Gift | Winnie | Lost film | |
| Pink Tights | Mazie Darton | ||
| Risky Business | Phillipa | Lost film | |
| 1921 | Rich Girl, Poor Girl | Nora McShane / Beatrice Vanderfleet | Lost film |
| All Dolled Up | Maggie Quick | ||
| Desperate Youth | Rosemary Merridew | Lost film | |
| The Man Tamer | The Lion Tamer | Lost film | |
| Short Skirts | Natalie Smith | Lost film | |
| The Rowdy | Kit Purcell | Lost film | |
| High Heels | Christine Trevor | Lost film | |
| Playing With Fire | Enid Gregory | Lost film | |
| 1922 | The Guttersnipe | Mazie O'Day | Lost film |
| The Wise Kid | Rosie Cooper | Lost film | |
| Second Hand Rose | Rose O'Grady | Lost film | |
| The Trouper | Mamie Judd | Lost film | |
| Top o' the Morning | 'Jerry' O'Donnell | Lost film | |
| The Girl Who Ran Wild | M'liss | Lost film | |
| The Lavender Bath Lady | Mamie Conroy | Lost film | |
| A Dangerous Game | Gretchen Ann Peebles | Lost film | |
| 1923 | The Love Letter | Mary Ann McKee | Lost film |
| Gossip | Caroline Weatherbee | Lost film | |
| The Town Scandal | Jean Crosby | Lost film | |
| Crossed Wires | Marcel Murphy | Lost film | |
| Sawdust | Nita Moore | ||
| The Untameable | Edna Fielding / Joy Fielding | ||
| The Wild Party | Leslie Adams | Lost film | |
| The Near Lady | Nora Schultz | Lost film | |
| 1925 | Easy Money | ||
| Enemies of Youth | Lost film | ||
| The Sky Raider | Marie | Lost film | |
| Anything Once | Dorothy Nixon | Lost film | |
| A Little Girl in a Big City | Mary Barry | ||
| 1928 | The Ape | Lost film | |
| :: |
References
References
- (1993-11-21). "Gladys Walton; Starred in Silent Films". Los Angeles Times.
- Dates of birth and death are submitted by her son, John Walton, from her death certificate
- Michael G Ankerich (1993) Broken Silence: conversations with 23 silent film stars. p.299
- Michael G Ankerich (1993) Broken Silence: conversations with 23 silent film stars. p.300
- (1993-12-23). "Gladys Walton Dead; Silent-Film Actress, 90". The New York Times.
- "The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, October 15, 1922, SECTION FOUR, Page 7, Image 61 « Historic Oregon Newspapers".
- Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 322. {{ISBN. 978-1936168-68-2.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::