Betty Ross Clarke
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Betty Ross Clarke (born May Clarke, May 1, 1892 – January 24, 1970) was an American stage and film actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1920 and 1940, including silent and sound films, in both credited and uncredited roles. During the 1920s, Clarke appeared in 14 silent films, including 11 U.S. films, two British films and one German film. In the United States, she worked for film companies that included Famous Players-Lasky, Thomas H. Ince, and Vitagraph Studios. She played the female lead in the film If I Were King opposite William Farnum and had other starring roles in silent films. Clarke's first screen role in a "talkie" was as the character Dot Aldrich in The Age for Love. During the 1930s, she appeared in more than 20 sound films, including both feature films and short films. She typically played character roles, both credited and uncredited. Of note, she replaced the actress Sara Haden as Aunt Millie in two feature length Andy Hardy films. Betty Ross Clarke was occasionally billed in screen credits as "Betsy Ross Clarke" or "Betty Ross Clark," and her name appears as "Betty Ross-Clarke" in some databases, such as the Internet Broadway Database. Throughout her career, Clarke often performed on both the theater stage and in films during the same time period. A newspaper advertisement in 1922 noted that audience members could "see her on stage and screen at the same time," because she was performing in the play The Morning Him and also starring in the film At the Sign of the Jack O'Lantern. Commenting on the difference between stage and film acting, Clarke remarked that the "silent drama affords an easier life to those who choose it, for one has the nights free, to do as one likes. On the boards an actor's or actresses's time is always taken up." Most of the silent films in which Clarke appeared have not survived. However, the films If I Were King and Mother o' Mine are preserved in the silent film archive of the Library of Congress. A print of Mother o' Mine is also housed in the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The silent film Traveling Salesman, with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in the leading role, can be found in the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection in Rochester, New York. Many of the later sound films in which she appeared are still available, including Murders in the Rue Morgue, A Bride for Henry, Love Finds Andy Hardy, Judge Hardy's Children, and Four Wives.
Known For
In 19th century Paris, a maniac abducts young women and injects them with ape blood in an attempt to prove ape-human kinship but constantly meets failure as the abducted women die.
Murders in the Rue Morgue
While in Shanghai reporting on the Sino-Japanese war, Chris Hunter, a shrewd news reporter, meets pilot Alma Harding. She does not trust him, but he manages to hire her as his assistant. During an adventurous expedition through the jungles of South America, her opinion of him begins to change.
Too Hot to Handle
A newlywed unhappily discovers that her husband's scheming ex-wife still has a controlling influence in his life and home.
Woman Against Woman
In this sequel to Four Daughters, Ann struggles to move on after the death of her husband as she falls in love with Felix, but on the day of her engagement discovers that she carries Mickey's child.
Four Wives
A courageous doctor braves a fierce blizzard in the Canadian wilderness to save a remote community from a deadly epidemic. He has come North to visit and ends up stealing a wife from her husband. When the epidemic hits, he and the wife begin their arduous journey.
Untamed
Andy Hardy becomes entangled with three different girls all at the same time.
Love Finds Andy Hardy
A newsreel photographer neglects his love life to get the perfect shot.
Headline Shooter
Two young people meet at a wedding and begin dating, each thinking the other is extremely wealthy. Comedy.
Hold That Kiss
In this MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short, a protection racket preying on milk distribution is broken through the persistence of law enforcement and the courage of a local businessman.
The Public Pays
A comedy-drama about marriage and divorce. A wife does not want children, her husband leaves her and marries a woman who does.
The Age for Love
A sleazy lawyer gains clients by showing up at terrible accidents. His boss, determined to stop him, hires a pretty girl to cozy up and coerce the truth out of the ambulance-chaser. Unfortunately, the boss doesn't count on the romance factor and sure enough, love blossoms between the girl and the shyster.
The Chaser
Jennie Mullins and her fiancé Peter Cary are happily in love but their families are miserable about their relationship. The Carys and Mullinses have been feuding for years over the apparent failure of the Carys' business which was caused by the now-deceased Mr. Mullins. Despite familial pressure to the contrary, Jennie and Peter proceed with their wedding. Just before the wedding, Peter receives advice from his soon-to-be brothers-in-law, Jeff and Bill Mullins. Both men warn him about the drudgery of marriage, ply him with drink, and destroy his fantasy of an ideal, romantic marriage.
Three Married Men
Someone in India is deciphering secret codes and passing information from London's Downing Street to the natives, so Captain Robert Kent comes down from London to investigate. He disguises himself as a Rajah, and Colonel Wentworth introduces him to the colony.
The Man from Downing Street
This second entry in MGM's "Romance of Film" series documents how celluloid movie film is processed and features behind-the-scenes glimpses of current MGM productions.
Another Romance of Celluloid
A young singer hopes to become a success on Broadway.
Blossoms On Broadway
Monte Brewster learns that he has inherited $10 million from his late grandfather, but then learns that he must spend $2 million in less than a year and remain unmarried to inherit the rest of the money.
Brewster's Millions
Judge Hardy takes a business trip to Washington, DC, where Andy promptly falls for the French ambassador's daughter.
Judge Hardy's Children
A practical joke makes a man get off before his intended stop, leading to all sorts of trouble.
Traveling Salesman
Santa Fe, a tramp, is saved from a jeering mob in the desert town of Caliente by Annette, the sheriff's daughter; and after adopting Pard he gets a job as a porter in the bank. Santa Fe learns that the leading banker, Coulter, is in league with a band of outlaws, and when Coulter frames Dick Farwell, Annette's fiancé, Dick is suspected of robbery and is captured by the outlaws.
The Fox
A Night at the Movies is a short film starring Robert Benchley. It was Benchley's greatest success since How to Sleep, and won him a contract for more short films that would be produced in New York. In this comedic short, a man and his wife suffer through a night at the movies. The film was nominated for an Academy Award at the 10th Academy Awards, held in 1937, for Best Short Subject (One-Reel).