Betty Blythe
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- August 31, 1893
- Died
- April 7, 1972
- Birthplace
- Los Angeles, California, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Betty Blythe (born Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter, September 1, 1893 – April 7, 1972) was an American actress best known for her dramatic roles in exotic silent films such as The Queen of Sheba (1921). She appeared in 63 silent films and 56 talking pictures (known as talkies) over the course of her career. She is famous for being one of the first actresses to appear on film in the nude, or nearly so, during the Roaring Twenties. She is reported to have said, "A director is the only man besides your husband who can tell you how much of your clothes to take off." Blythe began her stage work in such theatrical pieces as So Long Letty and The Peacock Princess. She worked in vaudeville as the "California Nightingale" singing songs such as "Love Tales from Hoffman". After touring Europe and the States, she entered films in 1918 at the Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn, then she was brought to Hollywood's Fox studio as a replacement for actress Theda Bara. As famous for her revealing costumes as for her dramatic skills, she became a star in such exotic films as The Queen of Sheba (1921) (in which she wore nothing above the waist except a string of beads), Chu-Chin-Chow (made in 1923; released by MGM in the US 1925) and She (1925). She was also seen to good advantage in less revealing films like Nomads of the North (1920) with Lon Chaney and In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter (1924), produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Other roles were as an opera star, unbilled in Garbo's The Mysterious Lady. She continued to work as a character actress. One of her last roles was a small uncredited role in a crowd scene in 1964's My Fair Lady. Betty Blythe's name lives on through the Betty Blythe Vintage TeaRoom in West Kensington.
Filmography
My Fair Lady 1964
as Lady at Ball (uncredited)
Runaway Daughters 1956
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Hollywood Story 1951
as Herself
Rebecca 1950
as Mrs. Danvers
Luxury Liner 1948
as Miss Fenmoor (uncredited)
Shed No Tears 1948
as Mrs. Peet (Uncredited)
Letter from an Unknown Woman 1948
as Frau Kohner (uncredited)
Madonna of the Desert 1948
as Mrs. Brown
Jiggs and Maggie in Society 1947
as Mrs. Vacuum
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1947
as Floor Manager (uncredited)
Something in the Wind 1947
as Society Matron (uncredited)
Undercurrent 1946
as Saleslady (uncredited)
Joe Palooka, Champ 1946
as Mrs. Stafford
The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946
as Customer (uncredited)
The Undercover Woman 1946
as Cissy Van Horn
Adventure 1945
as Mrs. Buckley (uncredited)
They Were Expendable 1945
as Officer's Wife (uncredited)
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood 1945
as Mrs. Murdock (uncredited)
Docks of New York 1945
as Mrs. Darcy
A Fig Leaf for Eve 1944
as Lavinia Sardham
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat 1944
as Mrs. Manning
Mr. Muggs Steps Out 1943
Actor
Bar 20 1943
as Mrs. Stevens
Spotlight Scandals 1943
as Mrs. Baker
Crime Doctor 1943
as Mrs. Harrington
Sarong Girl 1943
as Miss Ellsworth
Girls in Chains 1943
as Mrs. Grey
Presenting Lily Mars 1943
as Dowager
Dawn on the Great Divide 1942
as Mrs. Elmira Corkle
Piano Mooner 1942
as Society Woman
House of Errors 1942
as Mrs. Martha Randall
Freckles Comes Home 1942
as Minerva Potter
Inflation 1942
as Next Door Neighbor Who Begins Hoarding (uncredited)
Tuxedo Junction 1941
as Miss Hornblower
The Miracle Kid 1941
as Madame Gloria
Top Sergeant Mulligan 1941
as Mrs. Lewis
Honky Tonk 1941
as Mrs. Wilson
Our Wife 1941
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Puddin' Head 1941
as Mrs. Bowser
Sis Hopkins 1941
as Mrs. Farnsworth
Federal Fugitives 1941
as Marcia
Misbehaving Husbands 1940
as Effie Butler
Earl of Puddlestone 1940
as Millicent Potter-Potter
The Women 1939
as Mrs. South (uncredited)
Gangster's Boy 1938
as Mrs. Davis
Delinquent Parents 1938
as Mrs. Wharton
Romance of the Limberlost 1938
as Mrs. Parker
Hold That Kiss 1938
as Wedding Guest at Piermont's
Life in Sometown, U.S.A. 1938
as Mrs. Himber (uncredited)
What Do You Think? (Number Two) 1937
Actor
Topper 1937
as Mrs. Goodrich (uncredited)
Espionage 1937
as Train Passenger
Rainbow on the River 1936
as Flower Buyer (uncredited)
The Gorgeous Hussy 1936
as Mrs. Wainwright
Yours for the Asking 1936
as May (uncredited)
Murder at Glen Athol 1936
as Ann Randel
Western Courage 1935
as Mrs. Hanley
The Spanish Cape Mystery 1935
as Mrs. Godfrey
Cheers of the Crowd 1935
as Lil Langdon Walton
The Perfect Clue 1935
as Ursula Chesebrough
I've Been Around 1935
as Betty
Night Alarm 1934
as Mrs. Elizabeth Van Dusen
A Girl of the Limberlost 1934
as Mrs. Parker
Two Heads on a Pillow 1934
as Mrs. Agnes Walker
The Scarlet Letter 1934
as Innkeeper
Money Means Nothing 1934
as Mrs. Ferris
Badge of Honor 1934
as Mrs. Claire van Alstyne
Ever Since Eve 1934
as Mrs. Vandergrift
Before Midnight 1933
as Mavis Fry
Only Yesterday 1933
as Mrs. Vincent (Uncredited)
Pilgrimage 1933
as Janet Prescot
Back Street 1932
as Gossip (uncredited)
Tom Brown of Culver 1932
as Dolores Delight
Lena Rivers 1932
as Mathilda Nichols
Stars of Yesterday 1931
as Self
Stolen Love 1928
as Modiste
- Sisters of Eve
Sisters of Eve 1928
as Mrs. Wenham Gardner
- Into No Man's Land
Into No Man's Land 1928
as The Countess
Glorious Betsy 1928
as Princess Fredericka
Domestic Troubles 1928
as Carrie
The Girl from Gay Paree 1927
as Mademoiselle Fanchon
A Million Bid 1927
as Mrs. Gordon
Snowbound 1927
as Julia Barry
She 1925
as Ayesha
Percy 1925
as Lolita
Folly of Vanity 1924
as Mrs. Ridgeway (modern sequence)
In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter 1924
as Rita Sismondi
The Breath of Scandal 1924
as Sybil Russell
Chu-Chin-Chow 1924
as Zahrat
The Spitfire 1924
as Jean Bronson
Southern Love 1924
as Dolores
- The Truth About Wives
The Truth About Wives 1923
as Helen Frazer
How Women Love 1922
as Rosa Roma
His Wife's Husband 1922
as Olympia Brewster
Fair Lady 1922
as Countess Margherita
Disraeli 1921
Actor
Charge It 1921
as Mille Garreth
Mother o' Mine 1921
as Fan Baxter
The Queen of Sheba 1921
as Queen of Sheba
Nomads of the North 1920
as Nanette
Occasionally Yours 1920
as Bunny Winston
The Silver Horde 1920
as Mildred Wayland
Burnt Wings 1920
as Helen
The Third Generation 1920
as Helen Van Dusen
The Undercurrent 1919
as Mariska
Beating the Odds 1919
as Hebe Norse
Miss Ambition 1918
as Edith Webster
The King of Diamonds 1918
as Lucille Bennett
The Green God 1918
as Muriel Temple
A Game with Fate 1918
as Elaine Huntington
The Business of Life 1918
as Elena Clydesdale
Over the Top 1918
as Madame Arnot
Slander 1916
Actor
Credits from TMDB.