Lois Weber
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- June 12, 1879
- Died
- November 13, 1939
- Birthplace
- Allegheny City [now Pittsburgh], Pennsylvania, USA
Lois Weber (1879 - 1939) was a true American auteur on par with D. W. Griffith. A director, actress, screenwriter, and producer of mostly silent films, she was the first American woman to direct a full-length feature film (1914's The Merchant of Venice), the first American woman director to own her own film studio, and one of the first film directors to experiment with sound. Weber pioneered the split-screen technique in the 1913 short film Suspense, and Hypocrites featured the first non-pornographic full-frontal female nude scene in 1915. Many of her films tackled social issues like abortion, poverty, discrimination, and religion, drawing the attention of censors. Only a fraction of her films, estimated to number between 200 and 400, were preserved. In 2022, the American Film Institute announced a new initiative titled "Behind the Veil," after one of Weber's lost films. The initiative "will document 6,000 short films from the silent and early sound eras to uncover the innovative contributions of female and BIPOC storytellers."
Filmography
The Women Who Run Hollywood 2016
as Self (archive footage)
Early Directors on Directing 2009
as Self
White Heat 1934
Writer, Director
The Angel of Broadway 1927
Director
Topsy and Eva 1927
Adaptation, Screenplay
Sensation Seekers 1927
Director, Writer
The Marriage Clause 1926
Director, Writer
A Chapter in Her Life 1923
Director, Adaptation, Screenplay
What Do Men Want? 1921
Writer, Director
The Blot 1921
Director, Writer, Producer
Too Wise Wives 1921
Director, Producer, Story, Screenplay
What's Worth While? 1921
Producer, Director, Writer
To Please One Woman 1920
Writer, Director
Forbidden 1919
Writer, Director
Home 1919
Director, Writer
Mary Regan 1919
Director, Scenario Writer, Screenplay
A Midnight Romance 1919
Writer, Director
When a Girl Loves 1919
Writer, Director
Borrowed Clothes 1918
Director, Writer
For Husbands Only 1918
Adaptation, Director, Producer, Screenplay
The Doctor and the Woman 1918
Director, Writer
Tarzan of the Apes 1918
Writer
The Price of a Good Time 1917
Director, Writer, Editor
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle 1917
as Mrs. Broome, Director, Writer, Producer
Even as You and I 1917
Director
The Mysterious Mrs. M 1917
Director, Writer
- Alone in the World
Alone in the World 1917
Actor
The People vs. John Doe 1916
Director, Writer, Producer
Wanted- A Home 1916
Producer, Story
Idle Wives 1916
as Anne, Director, Writer, Adaptation, Producer
Saving the Family Name 1916
Director, Writer
Shoes 1916
Director, Producer, Writer
The Eye of God 1916
as Renie, Scenario Writer, Director, Writer
Where Are My Children? 1916
Director, Producer, Writer
- John Needham's Double
John Needham's Double 1916
Director
- The Flirt
The Flirt 1916
Writer, Director
Hop - The Devil's Brew 1916
as Lydia Jansen, Director, Scenario Writer, Screenplay
The Dumb Girl of Portici 1916
Producer, Adaptation, Director
Discontent 1916
Director, Writer
Jewel 1915
Writer
- A Cigarette - That's All
A Cigarette - That's All 1915
Director
Scandal 1915
as Daisy Dean, Director, Writer
Betty in Search of a Thrill 1915
Director
Captain Courtesy 1915
Director
Sunshine Molly 1915
as Sunshine Molly, Director, Writer
Hypocrites 1915
Director, Producer, Writer
It's No Laughing Matter 1915
Writer, Director
- False Colors
False Colors 1914
as Mrs. Moore, Screenplay, Director
The Opened Shutters 1914
Scenario Writer
Lost by a Hair 1914
as Summer Girl, Director, Writer
- The Pursuit of Hate
The Pursuit of Hate 1914
as Diana Grave, Director
The Spider and Her Web 1914
as Madame DuBarr, Director, Scenario Writer
The Merchant of Venice 1914
as Portia, Director, Writer
The Jew's Christmas 1913
as Leah - Isaac's Daughter, Director, Writer
How Men Propose 1913
as The Maid, Director, Producer
Suspense 1913
as The Wife, Director, Writer
The Rosary 1913
as The Soldier's Sweetheart, Director
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray 1913
Actor, Screenplay
- A Japanese Idyll
A Japanese Idyll 1912
Actor, Director
The Troubadour's Triumph 1912
Director, Writer
- Eyes That See Not
Eyes That See Not 1912
as The Millionaire's Wife, Director
Fine Feathers 1912
as Mira, the Artist's Model, Director
The Price 1911
as Ann, Director, Writer
- Lost Illusions
Lost Illusions 1911
as Grace - The Wife
- Sherlock Holmes, Jr.
Sherlock Holmes, Jr. 1911
as Mrs. Brown
- Fate
Fate 1911
as Flora Brown, Director
On the Brink 1911
as Tess, Director, Story
The Twins 1911
as The Twin Sisters, Writer, Director
From Death to Life 1911
as Aratus' Wife, Director
A Heroine of '76 1911
as The Tavern Keeper's Daughter, Director
Credits from TMDB.