Acting
Betty Blythe
EN, XX cinema · 113 credits
Born
31 August 1893
Died
7 April 1972 (aged 78)
Birthplace
Los Angeles, California, USA
Also known as Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter
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
Filmography
My Fair Lady
as Lady at Ball (uncredited)
Runaway Daughters
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Hollywood Story
as Herself
Rebecca
as Mrs. Danvers
Letter from an Unknown Woman
as Frau Kohner (uncredited)
Shed No Tears
as Mrs. Peet (Uncredited)
Madonna of the Desert
as Mrs. Brown
Luxury Liner
as Miss Fenmoor (uncredited)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
as Floor Manager (uncredited)
Something in the Wind
as Society Matron (uncredited)
Jiggs and Maggie in Society
as Mrs. Vacuum
The Postman Always Rings Twice
as Customer (uncredited)
The Undercover Woman
as Cissy Van Horn
Undercurrent
as Saleslady (uncredited)
Joe Palooka, Champ
as Mrs. Stafford
Adventure
as Mrs. Buckley (uncredited)
Docks of New York
as Mrs. Darcy
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
as Mrs. Murdock (uncredited)
They Were Expendable
as Officer's Wife (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
as Mrs. Manning
A Fig Leaf for Eve
as Lavinia Sardham
Crime Doctor
as Mrs. Harrington
Girls in Chains
as Mrs. Grey
Sarong Girl
as Miss Ellsworth
Spotlight Scandals
as Mrs. Baker
Bar 20
as Mrs. Stevens
Presenting Lily Mars
as Dowager
Freckles Comes Home
as Minerva Potter
House of Errors
as Mrs. Martha Randall
Piano Mooner
as Society Woman
Dawn on the Great Divide
as Mrs. Elmira Corkle
Inflation
as Next Door Neighbor Who Begins Hoarding (uncredited)
Tuxedo Junction
as Miss Hornblower
Federal Fugitives
as Marcia
Puddin' Head
as Mrs. Bowser
Sis Hopkins
as Mrs. Farnsworth
The Miracle Kid
as Madame Gloria
Top Sergeant Mulligan
as Mrs. Lewis
Our Wife
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Honky Tonk
as Mrs. Wilson
Earl of Puddlestone
as Millicent Potter-Potter
Misbehaving Husbands
as Effie Butler
The Women
as Mrs. South (uncredited)
Gangster's Boy
as Mrs. Davis
Romance of the Limberlost
as Mrs. Parker
Delinquent Parents
as Mrs. Wharton
Life in Sometown, U.S.A.
as Mrs. Himber (uncredited)
Hold That Kiss
as Wedding Guest at Piermont's
Espionage
as Train Passenger
Topper
as Mrs. Goodrich (uncredited)
The Gorgeous Hussy
as Mrs. Wainwright
Murder at Glen Athol
as Ann Randel
Rainbow on the River
as Flower Buyer (uncredited)
Yours for the Asking
as May (uncredited)
I've Been Around
as Betty
The Spanish Cape Mystery
as Mrs. Godfrey
The Perfect Clue
as Ursula Chesebrough
Western Courage
as Mrs. Hanley
Cheers of the Crowd
as Lil Langdon Walton
The Scarlet Letter
as Innkeeper
A Girl of the Limberlost
as Mrs. Parker
Two Heads on a Pillow
as Mrs. Agnes Walker
Money Means Nothing
as Mrs. Ferris
Night Alarm
as Mrs. Elizabeth Van Dusen
Ever Since Eve
as Mrs. Vandergrift
Badge of Honor
as Mrs. Claire van Alstyne
Before Midnight
as Mavis Fry
Only Yesterday
as Mrs. Vincent (Uncredited)
Pilgrimage
as Janet Prescot
Lena Rivers
as Mathilda Nichols
Back Street
as Gossip (uncredited)
Tom Brown of Culver
as Dolores Delight
Domestic Troubles
as Carrie
Stolen Love
as Modiste
Glorious Betsy
as Princess Fredericka
Sisters of Eve
1928
Sisters of Eve
as Mrs. Wenham Gardner
Into No Man's Land
1928
Into No Man's Land
as The Countess
A Million Bid
as Mrs. Gordon
The Girl from Gay Paree
as Mademoiselle Fanchon
Snowbound
as Julia Barry
Percy
as Lolita
She
as Ayesha
Southern Love
as Dolores
Chu-Chin-Chow
as Zahrat
In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter
as Rita Sismondi
Folly of Vanity
as Mrs. Ridgeway (modern sequence)
The Spitfire
as Jean Bronson
The Breath of Scandal
as Sybil Russell
The Truth About Wives
1923
The Truth About Wives
as Helen Frazer
How Women Love
as Rosa Roma
Fair Lady
as Countess Margherita
His Wife's Husband
as Olympia Brewster
The Queen of Sheba
as Queen of Sheba
Disraeli
Actor
Charge It
as Mille Garreth
Mother o' Mine
as Fan Baxter
Nomads of the North
as Nanette
The Silver Horde
as Mildred Wayland
Burnt Wings
as Helen
Occasionally Yours
as Bunny Winston
The Third Generation
as Helen Van Dusen
The Undercurrent
as Mariska
Beating the Odds
as Hebe Norse
Over the Top
as Madame Arnot
Miss Ambition
as Edith Webster
The Business of Life
as Elena Clydesdale
The Green God
as Muriel Temple
A Game with Fate
as Elaine Huntington
The King of Diamonds
as Lucille Bennett
Slander
Actor