Central Library

Beverly Bayne walked into Chicago’s Essanay Studios when she was 16 years old and immediately turned heads with her big brown eyes and soft, dark hair. She became a pioneering silent film star of the 1910s, forming a popular romantic duo with matinee idol Francis X. Bushman – most notably in 1916’s Romeo and Juliet....

Born Muriel Harding in England, Olga Petrova adopted her more exotic stage name as she became a successful actress in musicals and the London and New York Vaudeville scenes. Her American film career, which began with "The Tigress" in 1914, spanned more than two dozen silent pictures from 1914-1918. Petrova expressed di...

Before they endeared themselves to film audiences in "The Wizard of Oz," the Singer Midgets were stars on Broadway. Organized and managed by Viennese-born Leo Singer, all were from Austria or Hungary. The troupe averaged about 20 members, although many more were added along with a number of young girls aged 7-9 for the...

The number of girls named Marilyn rose exponentially in the 1920s and early 30s in homage to Marilyn Miller, one of the era's most popular Broadway stars. An actress, dancer and singer, she was the daughter of Vaudeville-performing parents who incorporated her into their family act when she was 5 years old. Miller join...

Born in New Orleans and the son of a producer and stage manager, Robert Edeson spent nearly 30 years on Broadway and became one of the first stage performers to embrace film and move to Hollywood. The beloved character actor first appeared in a series of silent shorts in 1912 and 1913 and went on to forge an associatio...

Eddie Cantor, born Edward Israel Iskowitz, became a show business legend who excelled on stage, in radio, film, television, and in the nightclubs. He also made records and wrote books. Cantor's big expressionistic eyes, unique dialogue delivery, and energetic singing made him a hit in a series of lavish, escapist movie...

As a portrait photographer, it was Hixon’s responsibility to develop his subjects’ public image and give them a product they could share with theater producers, newspapers, or friends. Hixon also had an image to maintain and portraits of him reveal his desire to be seen as sophisticated, fashionable man of his time as...

Like many families in the 19th century, the Hixons took advantage of photography as an affordable way to capture images of loved ones. During his own career, Hixon contributed to the development of a new, less formal type of studio portrait that emphasized individuality and personality rather than relying on standard p...

Taylor Holmes began his career in Vaudeville and made his Broadway debut in 1900 in the controversial play "Sapho." The production was briefly closed on the grounds of "indecency" for suggesting two unmarried characters were ascending a staircase to an unseen bedroom. Holmes appeared in more than 100 stage productions,...

Although she did not consider herself movie-star petite or pretty, Marie Dressler's expressive face and superb comedic timing made her a beloved figure during Hollywood's Golden Age. The Canadian born actress was 42 when she moved from the stage to her first feature film alongside Charlie Chaplin in 1914. She became a...