
Alma Tell
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia Alma Tell (March 27, 1898 - December 29, 1937) was an American stage and motion picture actress whose career in cinema began in 1915 and lasted into the talkie era of the early 1930s. She began her career as an actress on the stages of New York before making her screen debut in the Edward José-directed drama Simon, the Jester, released in September 1915. Tell was most often cast in films as the second leading lady. Throughout the 1920s, she appeared opposite such leading silent film actresses as Mae Murray, Corinne Griffith and Madge Kennedy and would achieve leading lady status in 1923's J. Gordon Edwards-directed film The Silent Command, opposite actors Edmund Lowe, Martha Mansfield and Béla Lugosi. She made her last film appearance in the 1934 John M. Stahl-directed romantic-drama Imitation of Life, which starred Claudette Colbert. Tell died in 1937.
Known For

A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.
Imitation of Life

Youthful sweethearts, Bobbi and Jim, plan to get married but Bobbi wants them to settle down in their sleepy hometown. Jim has bigger plans and walks out on Bobbie who then resorts to her feminine tricks to win him back.
Saturday's Children

An American sailor comes to a seedy banana republic, and finds a fellow yank, a stranded girl, as a saloon singer. They fall in love, but a misunderstanding about her feelings toward the local dictator threatens their happiness.
Love Comes Along

Rosalie Lawrence, a dancing star on Broadway, falls for rich Hugh Thompson. His parents disapprove and want him to marry Barbara Royce, so he and Rosalie marry secretly. However, Hugh isn't quite the man he seems, as Rosalie is soon to find out.
Broadway Rose

Alaskan railroad magnate Curtis Gordon hires engineer Dan Appleton to design a railroad route up the Salmon River to the rich gold country. Gordon turns down the engineer's proposed route in favor of his own, and Appleton quits. Murray O'Neil, a rival builder, hires him and falls in love with his sister Eliza, while Appleton courts Natalie, Gordon's stepdaughter. Following Appleton's plan, O'Neil lays the trail with a bridge crossing the river in face of Gordon's opposition.
The Iron Trail

While honeymooning in Paris, wealthy John Battleby Watts is persuaded to purchase a $20,000 necklace for his capricious young wife. When the jeweler refuses to accept his check, John heads to the bank for the necessary funds. En route, he passes a little shop specializing in imitation jewelry. Figuring his wife will never know the difference, he buys a cheap duplicate of the 20-grand bauble. Later on, however, he reconsiders and purchases the genuine article. But before he can reach his hotel, John is detained by saucy chorus girl Rita Bori, whom he presents with what he thinks is the imitation necklace.
The Smugglers

Larry and Barbara, both the products of rich but broken homes, plan a marriage of convenience. He really loves Marcia, a dancer, and Barbara vamps Keith, an architect. Keith's good sense prevails, and he marries Marcia and helps Larry make a man of himself. Barbara, after an unsuccessful attempt at an acting career, returns and asks forgiveness.
Paying the Piper

A distinguished young Naval officer from a celebrated military falls prey to a terrorist and his seductress accomplice bent on destroying the Panama Canal.
The Silent Command

Sonia, a Russian dancer, comes to New York seeking her fortune. She marries Peter Derwynt, a young architect, but their marriage is not a good one. Sonia falls under the spell of a rich Broadway mogul, Jimmy Sutherland, whose wife is in love with Peter. The mix of relationships comes crashing apart when Sutherland ends up murdered.
On with the Dance

An adulterous aristocrat plans to murder his American wife.
The Right to Love

Young lawyer John Vickery is in love with his wife, but he thinks she is in love with another man...
San Francisco Nights

Silent comedy, based on a 1913 stage play of the same title.