Person Details

Birthday: 1905-07-25 12:57:24

Death: 1973-11-13 12:57:24

Aliases: Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel , Augusta Appel

Gender: Female

Place of birth: Union Hill, New Jersey, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 53

TV Involvements: 1


Most Famous Work

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel, July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. In 1918, she was chosen for a film contract by Hollywood film mogul Jesse Lasky for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which later became Paramount Pictures. Her first feature, The Cruise of the Make-Believes, garnered the teenaged starlet much public acclaim and Lasky quickly sent Lee on an arduous publicity campaign. Critics lauded Lila for her wholesome persona and sympathetic character parts. Lee quickly rose to the ranks of leading lady and often starred opposite such matinee heavies as Conrad Nagel, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Reid, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, and Rudolph Valentino. Lee bore more than a slight resemblance to Ann Little, a former Paramount star and frequent Reid co-star who was leaving the film business and at this stage in her career an even stronger resemblance to Marguerite Clark. In 1922 Lee was cast as Carmen in the enormously popular film Blood and Sand, opposite matinee idol Rudolph Valentino and silent screen vamp Nita Naldi; Lee subsequently won the first WAMPAS Baby Stars award that year. Lee continued to be a highly popular leading lady throughout the 1920s and made scores of critically praised and widely watched films. As the Roaring Twenties drew to a close, Lee's popularity began to wane and Lee positioned herself for the transition to talkies. She is one of the few leading ladies of the silent screen whose popularity did not nosedive with the coming of sound. She went back to working with the major studios and appeared, most notably, in The Unholy Three, in 1930, opposite Lon Chaney Sr. in his only talkie. However, a series of bad career choices and bouts of recurring tuberculosis and alcoholism hindered further projects and Lee was relegated to taking parts in mostly grade B movies.

Most Famous Work

Lux Video Theatre
Average
6

Lux Video Theatre

(1950) Mrs. McLean
Blood and Sand
Average
6

Blood and Sand

(1922) Carmen
Male and Female
Average
6

Male and Female

(1919) Tweeny, the scullery maid
The Unholy Three
Average
5

The Unholy Three

(1930) Rosie O'Grady
Terror Island
Average
5

Terror Island

(1920) Beverly West
Love, Live & Laugh
Average
0

Love, Live & Laugh

(1929) Margharita
Lone Cowboy
Average
0

Lone Cowboy

(1933) Eleanor Jones
War Correspondent
Average
0

War Correspondent

(1932) Julie March

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1967 Viola Zickafoose
1966 Wringmouth
1961 Self (archive footage)
1957 N/A
1950 Mrs. McLean
1937 Mona Franklin Burtis
Ethel Harriman
1936 Louise Heath
Miss Prentiss, Bradford's Receptionist
1935 Katherine Carr
1934 Mae Nichols
Sharon
Helen Rankin Morrison
1933 Eleanor Jones
Connie Wayne
Janet Stillman
Sharon Hadley
1932 Doris Dane
Georgia Rand
Trudie Morrow
Doris Corbin
Julie March
Jane Bradford
Sue Kennedy
1931 Princess Ellen
Judith Temple
1930 Alice Denby
Rosie O'Grady
Mary Carlyle
Nora Brady
Florence Wendell Fairchild
1929 Stella Taylor
Performer in 'What Became of the Floradora Boys' Number
Margharita
Elinor
Beth
Katie Dean
Dot
Bea Walters
1928 Eugenie Bromley
Self (1930)
Victoire
Marion Dorsey
Marie Cleste
The girl
1927 Elizabeth Glade
1926 Lila Lee
Evelyn Lane
Ruth Esterin
1925 Alice Rand
Anna
1924 Helen Brand
Diana Moreland
Molly
1923 Louise Halliday
Lila Lee
Mary Brent
Chiquita
1922 Ruth Attwater
Maria Theresa, a Spanish Heiress
Carmen
Self
Juanita
Elsie
Self
Molly McIntyre
Barbara Teller
1921 Eileen
Annabelle Landis
Sal Jo Banty
Peggy Bruce
Daisy Osborne
Elsie
1920 Vera Hamilton
Beverly West
1919 Princess Irma
Tweeny, the scullery maid
Polly
Mary Lennox
Year Character Movie/Tv

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