Josephine Crowell
Encyclopedia
Josephine Crowell was a Canadian film actress of the silent film era
. She appeared in 94 films between 1912
and 1929
.
She was born Josephine Boneparte Crowell in Nova Scotia, Canada, and began her film acting career in the 1912 film The School Teacher and the Waif. By 1919
she had appeared in 5 films, many of which were film shorts. Her most notable film appearance during that period was in the early film classic The Birth of a Nation
, starring Lillian Gish
and directed by D. W. Griffith
. In 1920
she appeared with Gladys Brockwell
in Flames of the Flesh, which was followed by another six film appearances that year. From 1921
until 1929 she had 34 more film appearances, most notably in The Splendid Crime starring Bebe Daniels
in 1925
.
Her last role was in the 1929 film Wrong Again
, starring Hollywood legends Stan Laurel
and Oliver Hardy
. With the coming of "talking films", her career abruptly ended. She had married minor actor Emile La Croix earlier in her career, and was residing in Amityville, New York
at the time of her death on July 27, 1932, at the age of 83.
|-
! Year !! Film
|-
| 1912
>The Painted Lady
>-
| 1913
The Mothering Heart
>-
| rowspan=3 | 1914
Home, Sweet Home
>-
| The Tear That Burned
|-
| The Sisters
|-
| 1915
The Birth of a Nation
>-
| 1916
Intolerance
>-
| 1916
The House Built Upon Sand
>-
| rowspan=2 | 1917
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
>-
| The Bad Boy
|-
| 1919
The Greatest Question
>-
| 1925
The Merry Widow
>-
| 1928
The Man Who Laughs
>-
| 1929
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
. She appeared in 94 films between 1912
1912 in film
The year 1912 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Mack Sennett, who had previously worked as an actor and comedy director with D. W. Griffith, formed a new company with New York City entrepreneur Adam Kessel called Keystone Studios...
and 1929
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
.
She was born Josephine Boneparte Crowell in Nova Scotia, Canada, and began her film acting career in the 1912 film The School Teacher and the Waif. By 1919
1919 in film
The year 1919 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 5 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists...
she had appeared in 5 films, many of which were film shorts. Her most notable film appearance during that period was in the early film classic The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...
, starring Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....
and directed by D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
. In 1920
1920 in film
The year 1920 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 27 - The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks opens.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1920:U.S.A. unless stated*The $1,000,000 Reward...
she appeared with Gladys Brockwell
Gladys Brockwell
Gladys Brockwell was an American actress whose career began during the silent film era.-Early life:Born Gladys Lindeman in Brooklyn, New York, she was the daughter of a chorus girl who put her on stage at a very early age. By the time she reached her middle teens, she was already a veteran and...
in Flames of the Flesh, which was followed by another six film appearances that year. From 1921
1921 in film
-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1921:U.S.A. unless stated*$10,000 Under a Pillow, silent film directed by Frank Moser*The Ace of Hearts, silent film directed by Wallace Worsley*Across the Divide, silent film directed by John Holloway...
until 1929 she had 34 more film appearances, most notably in The Splendid Crime starring Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent movie era as a child actress, became a star in musicals like 42nd Street, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain...
in 1925
1925 in film
-Events:*November 5: The Big Parade holds its Grand Premier*December 30: premier of Ben-Hur the most expensive silent film ever made costing 4-6 million dollars -Top grossing films :...
.
Her last role was in the 1929 film Wrong Again
Wrong Again
Wrong Again is a 1929 two-reel comedy silent film starring Laurel and Hardy. It was shot in October and November 1928, and released February 23, 1929, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
, starring Hollywood legends Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel
Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
and Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
. With the coming of "talking films", her career abruptly ended. She had married minor actor Emile La Croix earlier in her career, and was residing in Amityville, New York
Amityville, New York
Amityville is a village in the town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. The population was 9,441 at the 2000 census.-History:...
at the time of her death on July 27, 1932, at the age of 83.
Selected filmography
! Year !! Film
|-
| 1912
1912 in film
The year 1912 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Mack Sennett, who had previously worked as an actor and comedy director with D. W. Griffith, formed a new company with New York City entrepreneur Adam Kessel called Keystone Studios...
>
The Painted Lady
The Painted Lady is a 1912 short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives.-Cast:*Blanche Sweet - The Older Sister*Madge Kirby - The Younger Sister*Charles Hill Mailes - Their Father...
>-
| 1913
1913 in film
The year 1913 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* The Squaw Man, the first Hollywood feature film, is made.* December 29, Charlie Chaplin signs a contract with Mack Sennett to begin making films at Keystone Studios.* D. W...
The Mothering Heart
The Mothering Heart is a 1913 short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the Museum of Modern Art.-Plot:...
>-
| rowspan=3 | 1914
1914 in film
The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.-Events:*The 3,300-seat Mark Strand Theatre opens in New York City....
>-
| The Tear That Burned
The Tear That Burned
The Tear That Burned is a 1914 short drama film directed by Jack O'Brien.-Cast:* Josephine Crowell* John T. Dillon - * Mae Gaston* Lillian Gish* William Lowery - * Blanche Sweet...
|-
| The Sisters
The Sisters (1914 film)
The Sisters is a 1914 short drama film directed by Christy Cabanne.-Cast:* Lillian Gish - May* Dorothy Gish - Carol * Elmer Clifton - Frank * W. E. Lawrence - George * Donald Crisp...
|-
| 1915
1915 in film
The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 8 : D.W Griffith's The Birth of a Nation premieres at Clune's Auditorium Los Angeles and breaks box office and film length records, running at a total length of 3 hrs 10 minutes.* June 18 : The Motion Picture Directors...
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...
>-
| 1916
1916 in film
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....
Intolerance (film)
Intolerance is a 1916 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era. The three-and-a-half hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines each separated by several centuries: A contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; a...
>-
| 1916
1916 in film
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....
The House Built Upon Sand
The House Built Upon Sand is a 1916 drama film directed by Edward Morrissey and starring Lillian Gish.-Cast:* Lillian Gish - Evelyn Dare* Roy Stewart - David Westebrooke* William H. Brown - Samuel Stevens* Bessie Buskirk - Josie* Jack Brammall - Ted...
>-
| rowspan=2 | 1917
1917 in film
The year 1917 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Foundation of Universum Film AG , as a propaganda film company, in Berlin.*Technicolor System 1, a two-color process, is introduced...
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917 film)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1917 silent comedy-drama film directed by Marshall Neilan based upon the novel of the same name by Kate Douglas Wiggin. This version is notable for having been adapted by famed female screenwriter Frances Marion...
>-
| The Bad Boy
The Bad Boy (1917 film)
The Bad Boy is an American crime drama film directed by Chester Withey and starring Robert Harron, Richard Cummings, Mildred Harris and actress Colleen Moore, who made her film debut in The Bad Boy.-Plot summary:...
|-
| 1919
1919 in film
The year 1919 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 5 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists...
The Greatest Question
The Greatest Question is a drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. While considered a "programmer" of average quality at the time, the film has since been seen as one of Griffith's most charming minor works.-Cast:* Lillian Gish - Nellie Jarvis...
>-
| 1925
1925 in film
-Events:*November 5: The Big Parade holds its Grand Premier*December 30: premier of Ben-Hur the most expensive silent film ever made costing 4-6 million dollars -Top grossing films :...
The Merry Widow (1925 film)
The Merry Widow is a 1925 American silent MGM romantic drama film and black comedy directed and written by Erich von Stroheim. The film stars Mae Murray, John Gilbert and Roy D'Arcy. Joan Crawford and Clark Gable had uncredited roles in the film....
>-
| 1928
1928 in film
-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...
The Man Who Laughs (1928 film)
The Man Who Laughs is an American silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name and stars Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin as the blind Dea...
>-
| 1929
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....