Madge Kirby (born Madge Whitehead; April 12, 1884 – July 11, 1956) was an actress in
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, 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) ...
comedies. She co-starred in ''
Dunces and Dangers
''Dunces and Dangers'' is a 1918 American film directed by Larry Semon.
Plot summary
A man and his wife are having trouble financially and barely have anything to eat. The grocer and butcher visit and, seeing that the couple cannot pay them, take ...
'' and had roles in
D.W. Griffith
David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...
films. She also starred opposite
Hank Mann in various comedies.
Kirby immigrated with her family to the U.S. from London in 1894. Her maiden name was Whitehead. She often wore a blonde wig on screen.
[ She began acting on stage at age 14, becoming an ingenue. She later performed in vaudeville. She acted in films for Biograph Studio, American Film Company, and Fox Film Corporation.
Kirby died July 11, 1956.
]
Filmography
*''My Baby (film)
''My Baby'' is a 1912 American short comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith and Frank Powell. Prints of the film exist in the film archives of the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institu ...
'' (1912)
*'' Heredity (film)'' (1912), as an American Indian mother
*''The New York Hat
''The New York Hat'' is a silent short film which was released in 1912, directed by D. W. Griffith from a screenplay by Anita Loos, and starring Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and Lillian Gish.
Production
''The New York Hat'' is one of the mo ...
'' (1912)
*'' The Painted Lady'' (1912)
*''Brutality (film)
''Brutality'' is a 1912 American drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. Prints and/or fragments were found in the Dawson Film Find in 1978.
Cast
* Walter Miller - The Young Man
* Mae Marsh - The Young Woman
* Joseph Graybill - The Victim of ...
'' (1912)
*''The Burglar's Dilemma
''The Burglar's Dilemma'' is a 1912 American drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. A print of the film survives.
Cast
* Lionel Barrymore as The Householder
* Henry B. Walthall as Householder's Weakling Brother
* Adolph Lestina as The Butler
* ...
'' (1912)
*''The One She Loved
''The One She Loved'' is a 1912 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. The film, by the Biograph Company, was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey when many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based there ...
'' (1912)
*''The Musketeers of Pig Alley
''The Musketeers of Pig Alley'' is a 1912 American short drama and a gangster film. It is directed by D. W. Griffith and written by Griffith and Anita Loos. It is also credited for its early use of follow focus, a fundamental tool in cinemat ...
'' (1912)
*''The Telephone Girl and the Lady
''The Telephone Girl and the Lady'' is a 1913 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith.
Plot
A telephone operator is walking out with a handsome police sergeant; her father insists that the husband for her is a plump, comfortabl ...
'' (1913)
*'' Soapsuds and Sapheads'' (1913)
*''Bears and Bad Men
''Bears and Bad Men'' is a 1918 American silent comedy film directed by Larry Semon and featuring Stan Laurel.
Cast
* Larry Semon as Larry Cutshaw
* Madge Kirby as The Slawson Daughter
* Stan Laurel as Pete
* William McCall as Stranded acto ...
'' (1918)
*''Huns and Hyphens
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
'' (1918)
*'' Frauds and Frenzies'' (1918)
* ''The Flash of Fate
''The Flash of Fate'' is a 1918 American silent thriller film directed by Elmer Clifton and starring Herbert Rawlinson, Sally Starr and Jack Nelson.Parish & Pitts p.71
Cast
* Herbert Rawlinson as Randolph Shorb
* Sally Starr as Mary Freeman
...
'' (1918)
*''Dunces and Dangers
''Dunces and Dangers'' is a 1918 American film directed by Larry Semon.
Plot summary
A man and his wife are having trouble financially and barely have anything to eat. The grocer and butcher visit and, seeing that the couple cannot pay them, take ...
'' (1918)
*''Skids and Scalawags'' (1918)
*'' J-U-N-K'' (1920)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Madge
1884 births
1956 deaths
American stage actresses
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
Silent film comedians
Vaudeville performers
20th-century American actresses
Actresses from London
20th-century American comedians
20th-century English women
20th-century English people