1893-08-31 Los Angeles, California, USA
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.
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My Fair Lady | Lady at Ball (uncredited) | 1964-10-21 |
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Runaway Daughters | Party Guest (uncredited) | 1956-01-20 |
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Hollywood Story | Herself | 1951-06-01 |
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Letter from an Unknown Woman | Frau Kohner (uncredited) | 1948-04-28 |
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Madonna of the Desert | Mrs. Brown | 1948-02-23 |
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Luxury Liner | Miss Fenmoor (uncredited) | 1948-11-09 |
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Shed No Tears | Mrs. Peet (Uncredited) | 1948-06-09 |
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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Floor Manager (uncredited) | 1947-09-01 |
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Jiggs and Maggie in Society | Mrs. Vacuum | 1947-12-12 |
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Something in the Wind | Society Matron (uncredited) | 1947-07-21 |
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The Postman Always Rings Twice | Customer (uncredited) | 1946-05-02 |
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The Undercover Woman | Cissy Van Horn | 1946-01-01 |
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Joe Palooka, Champ | Mrs. Stafford | 1946-05-26 |
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Undercurrent | Saleslady (uncredited) | 1946-11-11 |
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They Were Expendable | Officer's Wife (uncredited) | 1945-12-07 |
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood | Mrs. Murdock (uncredited) | 1945-10-05 |
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Docks of New York | Mrs. Darcy | 1945-02-24 |
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Adventure | Mrs. Buckley (uncredited) | 1945-12-28 |
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A Fig Leaf for Eve | Lavinia Sardham | 1944-07-04 |
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Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat | Mrs. Manning | 1944-05-20 |
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Presenting Lily Mars | Dowager | 1943-04-29 |
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Mr. Muggs Steps Out | 1943-10-29 | |
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Bar 20 | Mrs. Stevens | 1943-10-01 |
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Spotlight Scandals | Mrs. Baker | 1943-09-24 |
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Girls in Chains | Mrs. Grey | 1943-05-17 |
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Sarong Girl | Miss Ellsworth | 1943-06-11 |
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Crime Doctor | Mrs. Harrington | 1943-06-22 |
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Piano Mooner | Society Woman | 1942-12-11 |
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House of Errors | Mrs. Martha Randall | 1942-04-10 |
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Dawn on the Great Divide | Mrs. Elmira Corkle | 1942-12-18 |
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Freckles Comes Home | Minerva Potter | 1942-01-02 |
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Inflation | Next Door Neighbor Who Begins Hoarding (uncredited) | 1942-01-01 |
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Federal Fugitives | Marcia | 1941-03-29 |
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Puddin' Head | Mrs. Bowser | 1941-06-25 |
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The Miracle Kid | Madame Gloria | 1941-11-14 |
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Our Wife | Minor Role (uncredited) | 1941-08-20 |
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Tuxedo Junction | Miss Hornblower | 1941-11-25 |
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Sis Hopkins | Mrs. Farnsworth | 1941-04-12 |
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Top Sergeant Mulligan | Mrs. Lewis | 1941-10-16 |
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Honky Tonk | Mrs. Wilson | 1941-10-01 |
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Misbehaving Husbands | Effie Butler | 1940-12-20 |
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Earl of Puddlestone | Millicent Potter-Potter | 1940-08-31 |
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The Women | Mrs. South (uncredited) | 1939-09-01 |
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Gangster's Boy | Mrs. Davis | 1938-11-16 |
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Romance of the Limberlost | Mrs. Parker | 1938-06-16 |
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Delinquent Parents | Mrs. Wharton | 1938-07-15 |
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Hold That Kiss | Wedding Guest at Piermont's | 1938-05-13 |
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Life in Sometown, U.S.A. | Mrs. Himber (uncredited) | 1938-02-26 |
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Topper | Mrs. Goodrich (uncredited) | 1937-07-16 |
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Espionage | Train Passenger | 1937-02-26 |
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What Do You Think? (Number Two) | 1937-12-25 | |
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Rainbow on the River | Flower Buyer (uncredited) | 1936-12-18 |
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The Gorgeous Hussy | Mrs. Wainwright | 1936-08-28 |
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Yours for the Asking | May | 1936-07-23 |
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Murder at Glen Athol | Ann Randel | 1936-02-27 |
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The Perfect Clue | Ursula Chesebrough | 1935-03-13 |
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Cheers of the Crowd | Lil Langdon Walton | 1935-08-05 |
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The Spanish Cape Mystery | Mrs. Godfrey | 1935-10-09 |
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I've Been Around | 1935-03-05 | |
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Western Courage | Mrs. Hanley | 1935-10-29 |
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Badge of Honor | Mrs. Claire van Alstyne | 1934-04-01 |
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The Scarlet Letter | Innkeeper | 1934-09-18 |
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A Girl of the Limberlost | Mrs. Parker | 1934-10-14 |
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Ever Since Eve | Mrs. Vandergrift | 1934-03-25 |
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Money Means Nothing | Mrs. Ferris | 1934-06-14 |
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Night Alarm | Mrs. Elizabeth Van Dusen | 1934-12-10 |
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Two Heads on a Pillow | Mrs. Agnes Walker | 1934-10-02 |
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Pilgrimage | Janet Prescot | 1933-07-12 |
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Only Yesterday | Mrs. Vincent (Uncredited) | 1933-11-01 |
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Before Midnight | Mavis Fry | 1933-11-18 |
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Back Street | Gossip (uncredited) | 1932-08-04 |
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Lena Rivers | Mathilda Nichols | 1932-03-27 |
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Tom Brown of Culver | Dolores Delight | 1932-06-30 |
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Stars of Yesterday | Self | 1931-12-31 |
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Domestic Troubles | Carrie | 1928-03-28 |
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Sisters of Eve | 1928-09-01 | |
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Glorious Betsy | Princess Fredericka | 1928-04-25 |
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Stolen Love | Modiste | 1928-12-02 |
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A Million Bid | Mrs. Gordon | 1927-05-27 |
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Snowbound | Julia Barry | 1927-05-01 |
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She | Ayesha | 1925-06-20 |
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Percy | Lolita | 1925-04-05 |
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Chu-Chin-Chow | Zahrat | 1924-05-15 |
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In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter | Rita Sismondi | 1924-09-28 |
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Folly of Vanity | Mrs. Ridgeway (modern sequence) | 1924-12-21 |
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Southern Love | 1924-01-01 | |
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The Truth About Wives | Helen Frazer | 1923-02-03 |
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How Women Love | Rosa Roma | 1922-10-15 |
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Fair Lady | Countess Margherita | 1922-03-19 |
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Disraeli | 1921-08-21 | |
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Charge It | Mille Garreth | 1921-06-11 |
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The Queen of Sheba | Queen of Sheba | 1921-04-10 |
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The Silver Horde | Mildred Wayland | 1920-05-09 |
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Nomads of the North | Nanette | 1920-09-25 |
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Burnt Wings | Helen | 1920-03-29 |
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The Undercurrent | Mariska | 1919-11-16 |
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Beating the Odds | Hebe Norse | 1919-05-12 |
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Over the Top | Madame Arnot | 1918-03-31 |
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Slander | 1916-04-09 |
