Billie West (August 5, 1891 – June 7, 1967) was an American actress of the
silent era
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1912 and 1917.
West was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and had two brothers.
West left home in 1910 to begin her career. She performed in vaudeville,
in musical comedy and as an ingenue in
stock theater in St. Louis.
Film companies for which West worked included Vitagraph, Pathe Freres, and the Broncho Company.
West was married to
Frank Fisher Bennett.
[''Silent Film Necrology'', pgs.559-560 2ndEdition c.2001 by Eugene Michael Vazzana ] In 1917, less than a year after they wed, West was released from her film contract to help her seriously ill mother. They eventually settled in
Warren Township, New Jersey
Warren Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the much larger New York metropolitan area, located within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United State ...
, building a house on property adjacent to his parents' home.
[ West died in ]Plainfield, New Jersey
Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City." .
Selected filmography
* '' While There's Life'' (1913)
* '' Through the Neighbor's Window'' (1913)
* ''The House in the Tree
''The House in the Tree'' is a 1913 American silent short film written by Lloyd Lonergan starring William Garwood and Billie Bennett.
Cast
*Josie Ashdown
*Victory Bateman
*Billie Bennett
*Howard Davies
*William Garwood
*Dimitri Mitsoras
*Murie ...
'' (1913)
* '' Fate's Decree'' (1914)
* '' The Body in the Trunk'' (1914)
* ''The Highbinders
''The Highbinders'' is a 1915 American short crime film directed by Tod Browning. It is not known whether the film currently survives.
Plot
As recorded in a film magazine, Maggie, the daughter of Pat Gallagher, a brutal saloon keeper, to esc ...
'' (1915)
* ''The Living Death
''The Living Death'' is a 1915 American short drama film directed by Tod Browning.
Cast
* F. A. Turner as Dr. Farrell
* Billie West as Naida Farrell
* Edward Peil Sr.
Edward J. Peil Sr. (January 18, 1883 – December 29, 1958) was an ...
'' (1915)
* ''The Hidden Spring
''The Hidden Spring'' is a 1917 American silent film, silent adventure film directed by E. Mason Hopper and starring Harold Lockwood, Vera Sisson and Herbert Standing.Connelly p.9
Cast
* Harold Lockwood as Donald Keeth
* Vera Sisson as Thora Eric ...
'' (1917)
References
External links
*
Billie West filmography
1891 births
1967 deaths
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
Actresses from Kentucky
Deaths from cancer in New Jersey
20th-century American actresses
{{US-film-actor-1890s-stub