Marion Byron
Encyclopedia
Marion "Peanuts" Byron was a petite, plucky American
movie
comedienne.
She was born in Dayton, Ohio
. After following her sister into a short stage career as a singer/dancer, she was given her first movie role as Buster Keaton
's leading lady in the film Steamboat Bill Jr.
in 1928. From there she was hired by Hal Roach
to co-star in short subjects with Max Davidson
, Edgar Kennedy
, and Charley Chase
, but most significantly with Anita Garvin
, where tiny (5') Marion was teamed with 6' Anita for a brief (3 film) series as a "female Laurel & Hardy" in 1928–1929.
She left Roach before they made talkies, but she went on working, now in musical
features, like the Vitaphone
film Broadway Babies
(1929) with Alice White, and the early Technicolor
feature, Golden Dawn
(1930). She never made a big splash, with her parts slowly getting smaller and smaller until they were unbilled walk-ons in films like Meet the Baron
(1933) starring Jack Pearl
and Hips Hips Hooray (1934) with Wheeler & Woolsey
. Her final screen appearance was as a baby nurse to the Dionne Quintuplets
in their film, Six of a Kind
(1938).
She married screenwriter
Lou Breslow
in 1932 and they had a son, Larry Breslow, in 1939.
She died aged 74, in Santa Monica, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
comedienne.
She was born in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. After following her sister into a short stage career as a singer/dancer, she was given her first movie role as Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
's leading lady in the film Steamboat Bill Jr.
Steamboat Bill Jr.
Steamboat Bill Jr. is a 1928 feature-length comedy silent film featuring Buster Keaton. Released by United Artists, the film is the last product of Keaton's independent production team and set of gag writers. It was not a box-office success and proved to be the last picture Keaton would make for...
in 1928. From there she was hired by Hal Roach
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
to co-star in short subjects with Max Davidson
Max Davidson
Max Davidson was a German film actor known for his comedic Jewish persona during the silent film era. With a career spanning over thirty years, Davidson appeared in over 180 films.-Career:...
, Edgar Kennedy
Edgar Kennedy
Edgar Livingston Kennedy was an American comedic film actor, known as "the king of the slow burn". A slow burn is an exasperated facial expression, performed very deliberately; Kennedy embellished this by rubbing his hand over his bald head and across his face, in an attempt to hold his temper...
, and Charley Chase
Charley Chase
Charley Chase was an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director, best known for his work in Hal Roach short film comedies...
, but most significantly with Anita Garvin
Anita Garvin
Anita Garvin was an American actress and comedienne who appeared in both silent and sound films. She is best known for her work with comedians Laurel and Hardy and Charley Chase....
, where tiny (5') Marion was teamed with 6' Anita for a brief (3 film) series as a "female Laurel & Hardy" in 1928–1929.
She left Roach before they made talkies, but she went on working, now in musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
features, like the Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
film Broadway Babies
Broadway Babies
Broadway Babies, aka Broadway Daddies and Ragazze d'America , is a black and white 1929 American musical film. This was Alice White's first ever talking movie.-Taglines:The film's various taglines include:...
(1929) with Alice White, and the early Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
feature, Golden Dawn
Golden Dawn (film)
Golden Dawn is a musical operetta released by Warner Brothers and photographed entirely in Technicolor. The film is based on the semi-hit stage musical of the same name by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach.-Songs:...
(1930). She never made a big splash, with her parts slowly getting smaller and smaller until they were unbilled walk-ons in films like Meet the Baron
Meet the Baron
Meet the Baron is a comedy film starring Jack Pearl, Jimmy Durante, Edna May Oliver, Zasu Pitts, Ted Healy and the Three Stooges.-Plot:...
(1933) starring Jack Pearl
Jack Pearl
Jack Pearl, born Jack Perlman , was a vaudeville performer and a star of early radio.Born in New York, Pearl made an easy transition from vaudeville to broadfcasting when he introduced his character Baron Munchausen on The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air in 1932. His creation was loosely based on the...
and Hips Hips Hooray (1934) with Wheeler & Woolsey
Wheeler & Woolsey
Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were a famous American film comedy team of the 1930s....
. Her final screen appearance was as a baby nurse to the Dionne Quintuplets
Dionne quintuplets
The Dionne quintuplets are the first quintuplets known to survive their infancy. The sisters were born just outside Callander, Ontario, Canada near the village of Corbeil.The Dionne girls were born two months premature...
in their film, Six of a Kind
Six of a Kind
Six of a Kind is a 1934 comedy film directed by Leo McCarey. It is a whimsical and often absurd Road movie about three couples who decide to share their expenses on a trip to Hollywood.-Cast:*Charles Ruggles*Mary Boland*George Burns*Gracie Allen...
(1938).
She married screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Lou Breslow
Lou Breslow
Lou Breslow was an American screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 70 films between 1928 and 1955...
in 1932 and they had a son, Larry Breslow, in 1939.
She died aged 74, in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
.