Betty Blythe
Born
August 31, 1893
Died
April 7, 1972 (78 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
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.
Known For
My Fair Lady
Lady at Ball (uncredited)
1964
Runaway Daughters
Party Guest (uncredited)
1956
Hollywood Story
Herself
1951
Luxury Liner
Miss Fenmoor (uncredited)
1948
Shed No Tears
Mrs. Peet (Uncredited)
1948
Letter from an Unknown Woman
Frau Kohner (uncredited)
1948
Madonna of the Desert
Mrs. Brown
1948
Jiggs and Maggie in Society
Mrs. Vacuum
1947
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Floor Manager (uncredited)
1947
Something in the Wind
Society Matron (uncredited)
1947
Undercurrent
Saleslady (uncredited)
1946
Joe Palooka, Champ
Mrs. Stafford
1946
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Customer (uncredited)
1946
The Undercover Woman
Cissy Van Horn
1946
Adventure
Mrs. Buckley (uncredited)
1945
They Were Expendable
Officer's Wife (uncredited)
1945
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
Mrs. Murdock (uncredited)
1945
Docks of New York
Mrs. Darcy
1945
A Fig Leaf for Eve
Lavinia Sardham
1944
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Mrs. Manning
1944
Mr. Muggs Steps Out
1943
Bar 20
Mrs. Stevens
1943
Spotlight Scandals
Mrs. Baker
1943
Crime Doctor
Mrs. Harrington
1943
Sarong Girl
Miss Ellsworth
1943
Girls in Chains
Mrs. Grey
1943
Presenting Lily Mars
Dowager
1943
Dawn on the Great Divide
Mrs. Elmira Corkle
1942
Piano Mooner
Society Woman
1942
House of Errors
Mrs. Martha Randall
1942
Freckles Comes Home
Minerva Potter
1942
Inflation
Next Door Neighbor Who Begins Hoarding (uncredited)
1942
Tuxedo Junction
Miss Hornblower
1941
The Miracle Kid
Madame Gloria
1941
Top Sergeant Mulligan
Mrs. Lewis
1941
Honky Tonk
Mrs. Wilson
1941
Our Wife
Minor Role (uncredited)
1941
Puddin' Head
Mrs. Bowser
1941
Sis Hopkins
Mrs. Farnsworth
1941
Federal Fugitives
Marcia
1941
Misbehaving Husbands
Effie Butler
1940
Earl of Puddlestone
Millicent Potter-Potter
1940
The Women
Mrs. South (uncredited)
1939
Gangster's Boy
Mrs. Davis
1938
Delinquent Parents
Mrs. Wharton
1938
Romance of the Limberlost
Mrs. Parker
1938
Hold That Kiss
Wedding Guest at Piermont's
1938
Life in Sometown, U.S.A.
Mrs. Himber (uncredited)
1938
What Do You Think? (Number Two)
1937
Topper
Mrs. Goodrich (uncredited)
1937
Espionage
Train Passenger
1937
Rainbow on the River
Flower Buyer (uncredited)
1936
The Gorgeous Hussy
Mrs. Wainwright
1936
Yours for the Asking
May (uncredited)
1936
Murder at Glen Athol
Ann Randel
1936
Western Courage
Mrs. Hanley
1935
The Spanish Cape Mystery
Mrs. Godfrey
1935
Cheers of the Crowd
Lil Langdon Walton
1935
The Perfect Clue
Ursula Chesebrough
1935
I've Been Around
1935
Night Alarm
Mrs. Elizabeth Van Dusen
1934
A Girl of the Limberlost
Mrs. Parker
1934
Two Heads on a Pillow
Mrs. Agnes Walker
1934
The Scarlet Letter
Innkeeper
1934
Money Means Nothing
Mrs. Ferris
1934
Badge of Honor
Mrs. Claire van Alstyne
1934
Ever Since Eve
Mrs. Vandergrift
1934
Before Midnight
Mavis Fry
1933
Only Yesterday
Mrs. Vincent (Uncredited)
1933
Pilgrimage
Janet Prescot
1933
Back Street
Gossip (uncredited)
1932
Tom Brown of Culver
Dolores Delight
1932
Lena Rivers
Mathilda Nichols
1932
Stars of Yesterday
Self
1931
Stolen Love
Modiste
1928
Sisters of Eve
Mrs. Wenham Gardner
1928
Into No Man's Land
The Countess
1928
Glorious Betsy
Princess Fredericka
1928
Domestic Troubles
Carrie
1928
The Girl from Gay Paree
Mademoiselle Fanchon
1927
A Million Bid
Mrs. Gordon
1927
Snowbound
Julia Barry
1927
She
Ayesha
1925
Percy
Lolita
1925
Folly of Vanity
Mrs. Ridgeway (modern sequence)
1925
In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter
Rita Sismondi
1924
Chu-Chin-Chow
Zahrat
1924
Southern Love
1924
The Truth About Wives
Helen Frazer
1923
How Women Love
Rosa Roma
1922
Fair Lady
Countess Margherita
1922
Disraeli
1921
Charge It
Mille Garreth
1921
The Queen of Sheba
Queen of Sheba
1921
Nomads of the North
Nanette
1920
Occasionally Yours
Bunny Winston
1920
The Silver Horde
Mildred Wayland
1920
Burnt Wings
Helen
1920
The Undercurrent
Mariska
1919
Beating the Odds
Hebe Norse
1919
Over the Top
Madame Arnot
1918
Slander
1916