Acting · Los Angeles, California, USA · Born August 31, 1893
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.
MovieMy Fair Lady
1964
as Lady at Ball (uncredited)
MovieRunaway Daughters
1956
as Party Guest (uncredited)
MovieHollywood Story
1951
as Herself
MovieRebecca
1950
as Mrs. Danvers
MovieLuxury Liner
1948
as Miss Fenmoor (uncredited)
MovieShed No Tears
1948
as Mrs. Peet (Uncredited)
MovieLetter from an Unknown Woman
1948
as Frau Kohner (uncredited)
MovieMadonna of the Desert
1948
as Mrs. Brown
MovieJiggs and Maggie in Society
1947
as Mrs. Vacuum
MovieThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty
1947
as Floor Manager (uncredited)
MovieSomething in the Wind
1947
as Society Matron (uncredited)
MovieUndercurrent
1946
as Saleslady (uncredited)
MovieJoe Palooka, Champ
1946
as Mrs. Stafford
MovieThe Postman Always Rings Twice
1946
as Customer (uncredited)
MovieThe Undercover Woman
1946
as Cissy Van Horn
MovieAdventure
1945
as Mrs. Buckley (uncredited)
MovieThey Were Expendable
1945
as Officer's Wife (uncredited)
MovieBud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
1945
as Mrs. Murdock (uncredited)
MovieDocks of New York
1945
as Mrs. Darcy
MovieA Fig Leaf for Eve
1944
as Lavinia Sardham
MovieCharlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
1944
as Mrs. Manning
MovieMr. Muggs Steps Out
1943
MovieBar 20
1943
as Mrs. Stevens
MovieSpotlight Scandals
1943
as Mrs. Baker
MovieCrime Doctor
1943
as Mrs. Harrington
MovieSarong Girl
1943
as Miss Ellsworth
MovieGirls in Chains
1943
as Mrs. Grey
MoviePresenting Lily Mars
1943
as Dowager
MovieDawn on the Great Divide
1942
as Mrs. Elmira Corkle
MoviePiano Mooner
1942
as Society Woman
MovieHouse of Errors
1942
as Mrs. Martha Randall
MovieFreckles Comes Home
1942
as Minerva Potter
MovieInflation
1942
as Next Door Neighbor Who Begins Hoarding (uncredited)
MovieTuxedo Junction
1941
as Miss Hornblower
MovieThe Miracle Kid
1941
as Madame Gloria
MovieTop Sergeant Mulligan
1941
as Mrs. Lewis
MovieHonky Tonk
1941
as Mrs. Wilson
MovieOur Wife
1941
as Minor Role (uncredited)
MoviePuddin' Head
1941
as Mrs. Bowser
MovieSis Hopkins
1941
as Mrs. Farnsworth
MovieFederal Fugitives
1941
as Marcia
MovieMisbehaving Husbands
1940
as Effie Butler
MovieEarl of Puddlestone
1940
as Millicent Potter-Potter
MovieThe Women
1939
as Mrs. South (uncredited)
MovieGangster's Boy
1938
as Mrs. Davis
MovieDelinquent Parents
1938
as Mrs. Wharton
MovieRomance of the Limberlost
1938
as Mrs. Parker
MovieHold That Kiss
1938
as Wedding Guest at Piermont's
MovieLife in Sometown, U.S.A.
1938
as Mrs. Himber (uncredited)
MovieWhat Do You Think? (Number Two)
1937
MovieTopper
1937
as Mrs. Goodrich (uncredited)
MovieEspionage
1937
as Train Passenger
MovieRainbow on the River
1936
as Flower Buyer (uncredited)
MovieThe Gorgeous Hussy
1936
as Mrs. Wainwright
MovieYours for the Asking
1936
as May (uncredited)
MovieMurder at Glen Athol
1936
as Ann Randel
MovieWestern Courage
1935
as Mrs. Hanley
MovieThe Spanish Cape Mystery
1935
as Mrs. Godfrey
MovieCheers of the Crowd
1935
as Lil Langdon Walton
MovieThe Perfect Clue
1935
as Ursula Chesebrough
MovieI've Been Around
1935
MovieNight Alarm
1934
as Mrs. Elizabeth Van Dusen
MovieA Girl of the Limberlost
1934
as Mrs. Parker
MovieTwo Heads on a Pillow
1934
as Mrs. Agnes Walker
MovieThe Scarlet Letter
1934
as Innkeeper
MovieMoney Means Nothing
1934
as Mrs. Ferris
MovieBadge of Honor
1934
as Mrs. Claire van Alstyne
MovieEver Since Eve
1934
as Mrs. Vandergrift
MovieBefore Midnight
1933
as Mavis Fry
MovieOnly Yesterday
1933
as Mrs. Vincent (Uncredited)
MoviePilgrimage
1933
as Janet Prescot
MovieBack Street
1932
as Gossip (uncredited)
MovieTom Brown of Culver
1932
as Dolores Delight
MovieLena Rivers
1932
as Mathilda Nichols
MovieStars of Yesterday
1931
as Self
MovieStolen Love
1928
as Modiste
Sisters of Eve
1928
as Mrs. Wenham Gardner
Into No Man's Land
1928
as The Countess
MovieGlorious Betsy
1928
as Princess Fredericka
MovieDomestic Troubles
1928
as Carrie
MovieThe Girl from Gay Paree
1927
as Mademoiselle Fanchon
MovieA Million Bid
1927
as Mrs. Gordon
MovieSnowbound
1927
as Julia Barry
MovieShe
1925
as Ayesha
MoviePercy
1925
as Lolita
MovieFolly of Vanity
1924
as Mrs. Ridgeway (modern sequence)
MovieIn Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter
1924
as Rita Sismondi
MovieThe Breath of Scandal
1924
as Sybil Russell
MovieChu-Chin-Chow
1924
as Zahrat
MovieThe Spitfire
1924
as Jean Bronson
Southern Love
1924
as Dolores
The Truth About Wives
1923
as Helen Frazer
MovieHow Women Love
1922
as Rosa Roma
MovieHis Wife's Husband
1922
as Olympia Brewster
MovieFair Lady
1922
as Countess Margherita
MovieDisraeli
1921
MovieCharge It
1921
as Mille Garreth
MovieMother o' Mine
1921
as Fan Baxter
MovieThe Queen of Sheba
1921
as Queen of Sheba
MovieNomads of the North
1920
as Nanette
MovieOccasionally Yours
1920
as Bunny Winston
MovieThe Silver Horde
1920
as Mildred Wayland
MovieBurnt Wings
1920
as Helen
MovieThe Third Generation
1920
as Helen Van Dusen
MovieThe Undercurrent
1919
as Mariska
MovieBeating the Odds
1919
as Hebe Norse
MovieMiss Ambition
1918
as Edith Webster
MovieThe King of Diamonds
1918
as Lucille Bennett
MovieThe Green God
1918
as Muriel Temple
MovieA Game with Fate
1918
as Elaine Huntington
MovieThe Business of Life
1918
as Elena Clydesdale
MovieOver the Top
1918
as Madame Arnot
MovieSlander
1916
