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