Gladys Brockwell (née Lindeman; September 26, 1894 – July 2, 1929) was an American actress whose career began during the

silent film 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, w ...

era.

Early life and career

Brockwell was born Gladys Lindeman in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, on September 26, 1894. Her father was H.R. Lindeman. Her mother, Lillian Lindeman ( Voltaire), a chorus girl turned actress, put her daughter on stage at an early age. By age 7, Brockwell was performing in dramatic productions with a stock company in Williamsport, West Virginia. By the time Gladys was 14, she played leading roles, and when she was 17 she had her own company. She took on the stage name Gladys Brockwell , and made her film debut in 1913 for Lubin Studios. Within a short time she was starring in a number of films. Developing her craft, she moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

where she garnered a role in the acclaimed 1922 version of ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

'' and in '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' the following year. Gladys Brockwell

Her mother Lillian took to the screen in 1914 and also adopted the surname Brockwell, first as Lillian Brockwell then as

Billie Brockwell Lillian "Billie" Brockwell (née Voltaire; February 1, 1875 – January 30, 1949) was an early 20th-century American actress and scriptwriter. Career After performing as a chorus girl in vaudeville, Brockwell entered the film industry in 1913, ...

, achieving fame in her own right but after her daughter. The name Brockwell appears to be a corruption of Gladys' fiance's surname, Broadwell but may stem from a remarriage of Lillian around 1907 or 1908, with both mother and daughter taking a new surname. By the mid-1920s she was past the age of 30 and although still given top female billing, Brockwell performed mainly in supporting roles. Regarded as one of the finest character actresses of the day who not only adapted to sound films but excelled in them, her first appearance in a "talkie" came in 1928 in '' Lights of New York''. Her performance received strong reviews at the time of the film's release as well as by present-day critics of the preserved film. A Warner Bros. feature-length production, ''Lights of New York'' was filmed with microphones strategically hidden around the sets, creating the first motion picture released with fully

synchronic Synchronic may refer to: * ''Synchronic'' (film), a 2019 American science fiction film starring Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie * Synchronic analysis, the analysis of a language at a specific point of time * Synchronicity, the experience of two or ...

dialogue. She was then signed by Warner Bros. and was looking forward to continued success in talkies. She died in an automobile accident in 1929.

Personal life

Brockwell married actor Robert B. Broadwell on March 3, 1915. They separated on September 1, 1915, due to "Much quarreling and unpleasantness generally," as she told the court when she sought a divorce in March 1918. "We never seemed to agree on anything," she added. Los Angeles Judge Jackson granted her divorce decree on March 13, 1918, on grounds of desertion. On July 1, 1918, she married Harry Edwards, a film director, but the marriage was annulled the next year.

Death

Brockwell died in Hollywood Hospital in Los Angeles on July 2, 1929, of peritonitis that resulted from internal injuries from an automobile accident. On June 27, 1929, Brockwell and a friend, Thomas Stanely Brennan, were involved in an automobile accident near

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish ''calabazas'' " gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains. Following a second blood transfusion, Brockwell appeared to improve until peritonitis set in from her internal injuries, particularly a puncture of her large intestine. Brennan recovered after sustaining serious injuries. He said a bit of dust had blown into his eye, temporarily blinding him. No negligence was placed on Brennan, who was still recovering in the hospital. Brockwell's final film, ''The Drake Case'', was directed by

Edward Laemmle Edward Laemmle (October 25, 1887 – April 2, 1937) was an American film director of the silent era. He directed more than 60 films between 1920 and 1935. Biography Edward Laemmle was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in Los Angeles. He wa ...

while she was on loan to

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, and was released posthumously in September 1929. Gladys Brockwell was cremated at Hollywood Cemetery and her ashes given to her mother. Her ashes now lie with her mother in the columbarium of

Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 East Florence Avenue in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there. History The proposed es ...

Selected filmography

References

Sources

* '' Albert Lea (Minnesota) Evening Tribune'', "Gladys Brockwell, Picture Actress, Dies of Injuries", (Wednesday, July 3, 1929) page 1 * ''

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 ...

'', "Gladys Brockwell Dies" (July 3, 1929) page 14

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brockwell, Gladys 1894 births 1929 deaths People from Brooklyn Actresses from New York City American film actresses American silent film actresses American stage actresses Deaths from peritonitis Road incident deaths in California 20th-century American actresses