Gladys Brockwell
Born Sept. 26, 1893 in Brooklyn New York. Born Gladys
Lindeman, her mother was an actress who bore her child at a young
age. Brockwell claimed she had her first speaking part at age
three and worked continuously in the theatre until appearing in
her first movie in 1913 at age twenty. Although she originally
signed with Lubin, she also worked for Mutual, Majestic and Fine
Arts (working briefly for D.W. Griffith) before signing with Fox
in 1916. By the time she signed with Fox, she had already made
21 features before making her first, "The End of the Trail"
in 1916 for Fox. Although none of her films from this period stand
out as classics of the silent screen, her popularity grew steadily.
She was very active in patriotic endeavors during World War I,
particularly as a women's rights advocate encouraging women to
take on traditionally male-dominated jobs. As she entered the
1920's, would more likely be seen in character roles such as Nancy
Sykes in "Oliver Twist" (1922) with Lon Chaney and Jackie
Coogan, as the insane mother in Chaney's "The Hunchback of
Notre Dame" (1923) and as Janet Gaynor's evil sister in "Seventh
Heaven" (1927). She also had supporting roles in Colleen
Moore's "So Big" (1924) and "Twinkletoes"
(1926), Harry Langdon's "Long
Pants" (1927), "Man, Woman and Sin" (1927)
with John Gilbert, and "Spangles" (1926) with Marian
Nixon. The coming of the sound era was not a concern for Brockwell
as she signed a long-term contract with Warner Brothers and immediately
made her first talkie, "The Lights of New York," in
which she was a gangster's moll. Brockwell made four more sound
films before tragedy hit. She and advertising man Thomas Drennan
were in an automobile accident in the summer of 1929. They lost
control of the car which plunged over a 75-foot cliff. Brockwell
died July 2 of peritonitis.
Selected films of this star available for viewing:
On the Night Stage (1915)
Oliver Twist (1922)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Twinkletoes (1926)
Long Pants (1927)
Seventh Heaven (1927)
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
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