Evelyn Selbie (July 6, 1871 – December 7, 1950) was an American stage actress and performer in both silent and sound films.
Biography
Born in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...
, as a young woman Selbie was a
sidesaddle rider. She had a career which lasted twenty-five years on the stage. She began in Proctor's stock companies in New York after leaving her home. She acted in plays like ''Human Hearts'' and ''
The Cat and the Canary''. In the former production she starred for two seasons. Selbie also acted in the
stock theater company that operated at the Grand Theater in Reno, Nevada. Then she ventured west where she tenured 18 months at the old Central Theatre in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. This was followed by a season in stock in
San Diego, California and then a long one in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
with T.D. Frawley. During the Alaska tour Evelyn alternated leads with Virginia Thornton.
In 1909, Selbie joined a vaudeville team, leaving the Bentley stock company.
Selbie began her motion picture career in 1912 with the
Essanay Company
The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushman ...
as the leading lady of
Broncho Billy Anderson and worked with that company nine years. Her silent movie credits include ''The Squaw Man'', which was the first
Hollywood production of
Cecil B. De Mille
Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinem ...
.
[ ] She continued in motion pictures until 1949 with ''The Doolins of Oklahoma'', in which she played ''Birdie''. She participated in the
Fu Manchu film serials and did
freelance work on radio.
On December 7, 1950, Selbie died
[ ] at the
Motion Picture Country Hospital
The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as temp ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. She was 79. Selbie entered the Motion Picture Country Hospital two weeks after suffering a heart attack. The interment was at
Inglewood Park Cemetery,
Inglewood, California.
Selected filmography
*''
The People vs. John Doe
''The People vs. John Doe'' is a 1916 silent feature film about capital punishment co-directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley. The film was released by Universal Film Manufacturing Company.
Plot
A wealthy farmer and his sister are murdered ...
'' (1916) - Mrs. Doe
*''
The Price of Silence'' (1916) - Jenny Cupps
*''
The Mysterious Mrs. M'' (1917) - Mrs. Musselwhite
*''
The Terror'' (1917) - Mrs. Connelly
*''
The Voice on the Wire'' (1917, Serial) - Pale Ida
*''
The Flower of Doom'' (1917) - Arn Fun
*''
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'' (1917) - Sarah
*''
The Flashlight'' (1917) - Mrs. Barclay
*''
Pay Me!'' (1917) - Hilda Hendricks
*''
Sirens of the Sea'' (1917) - Hadji
*''
The Grand Passion'' (1918) - Boston Kate
*''
The Two-Soul Woman'' (1918) - Leah
*''
Danger, Go Slow'' (1918) - Miss Witherspoon (uncredited)
*''
The Red Glove'' (1919) - Tiajuana
*''
Uncharted Channels'' (1920) - Elsa Smolski
*''
A Broadway Cowboy'' (1920) - Miss Howell
*''
Seeds of Vengeance'' (1920) - Martha Ryerson
*''
The Devil to Pay'' (1920) - Mrs. Roan
*''
The Broken Gate'' (1920) - Julia Delafield
*''
Devil Dog Dawson
''Devil Dog Dawson'' is a 1921 American silent Western film directed by Karl R. Coolidge and starring Jack Hoxie, Helene Rosson and Evelyn Selbie. It was produced by Unity Photoplays and released on the states-rights market by Arrow Film Corp.
...
'' (1921)
*''
Without Benefit of Clergy'' (1921) - Ameera's mother
*''
The Devil Within'' (1921) - Witch
* ''
Silver Spurs'' (1922) - Tehama
* ''
The Half Breed'' (1922) - Mary
*''
Thorns and Orange Blossoms'' (1922) - Fallie, Rosita's Maid
*''
Omar the Tentmaker
Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, an ...
'' (1922) - Zarah
*''
The Tiger's Claw'' (1923) - Azun
*''
Snowdrift'' (1923) - Wananebish (prologue)
*''
The Broken Wing'' (1924) - Quichita
*''
Name the Man'' (1924) - Lisa Collister
*''
Flapper Wives'' (1924) - Hulda
*''
Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo'' (1924) - Madame Tranquille
*''
Mademoiselle Midnight'' (1924) - Chiquita
*''
Romance Ranch'' (1924) - Tessa
*''
A Cafe in Cairo'' (1924) - Batooka
*''
The Prairie Pirate'' (1925) - Marie - Housekeeper (uncredited)
*''
Lord Jim'' (1925) - Sultan's Wife (uncredited)
*''
The Test of Donald Norton'' (1926) - Nee-tah-wee-gan
*''
Hell-Bent for Heaven'' (1926) - Meg Hunt - Sid's Mother
*''
Silken Shackles'' (1926) - Tade's Mother
*''
The Silver Treasure'' (1926) - Mother Teresa
*''
Flame of the Argentine'' (1926) - Nana
*''
Into Her Kingdom'' (1926) - Stepan's Mother
*''
The Country Beyond'' (1926) - Martha Leseur
*''
Prisoners of the Storm'' (1926) - Lillian Nicholson
*''
Rose of the Tenements
''Rose of the Tenements'' is a 1926 American silent melodrama film, directed by Phil Rosen. It stars Shirley Mason, John Harron, and Evelyn Selbie, and was released on May 26, 1926.
Cast list
* Shirley Mason as Rosie Rossetti
* John Harr ...
'' (1926) - Sara Kaminsky
*''
Camille'' (1926) - Camille's Mother
*''
The King of Kings
King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...
'' (1927) - (uncredited)
*''
Wings'' (1927) - Dressing Room Attendant (uncredited)
*''
The American'' (1927) (never-released
widescreen film)
*''
Eager Lips'' (1927)
*''
Wild Geese'' (1927)
*''
Eternal Love
Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to:
* Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state
* Immortality or eternal life
* God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism
Comics, film and televisio ...
'' (1929)
*''
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
''The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu'' is a 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Warner Oland as Dr. Fu Manchu. It was the first Fu Manchu film of the talkie era. Since this was during the transition period to sou ...
'' (1929)
*''
Love Comes Along'' (1930)
*''
Dangerous Paradise'' (1930)
*''
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
''The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu'' is a 1930 American pre-Code film directed by Rowland V. Lee. It is the second of three films starring Warner Oland as the fiendish Fu Manchu, who returns from apparent death in the previous film, '' The Mysteriou ...
'' (1930)
* ''
Desert Vengeance'' (1931)
*''
Diamond Frontier'' (1940)
*''
White Eagle White Eagle(s) may refer to:
History and politics
* Coat of arms of Poland, a white eagle
* Crusade of Romanianism, or White Eagles, a 1930s far-right movement in Romania
* Task Force White Eagle, a Polish military unit during the War in Afghanist ...
'' (1941)
References
*
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the inter ...
Post, Friday, October 17, 1913, Page 3.
* ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''Evelyn Selbie, Actress'', December 9, 1950, Page 15.
* Santa Fe New American, ''Veteran Movie Actress Dies'', Friday, December 8, 1950, Page 12, Section A.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selbie, Evelyn
Actresses from Louisville, Kentucky
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery
1871 births
1950 deaths
19th-century American actresses
American stage actresses
20th-century American actresses