Thursday, October 27, 2011

Billie Rhodes: Pioneer Actress.

Despite having appeared in some 200 films, Billie Rhodes is completely forgotten today, even by the film buffs. Born Levita Axelrod in San Francisco on August 15, 1894, Billie had a brief stage career in stock and a tour on the Orpheum circuit. She entered films with the Kalem Company at the suggestion of director George Medford. Billie made her screen debut in the two-reel drama, “Perils of the Sea” (1913). At the close of her Kalem contract, Billie began to sing in nightclubs.




It wasn’t long before comedy producer Al Christie asked Billie to come over to his studio. Beginning in 1915, Billie was to appear in one comedy a week, under the direction of Al Christie, who was releasing his films through the Universal-controlled Nestor Company. Within a short time, Billie was being billed as “The Nestor Girl.” Billie was also seen in a minor role in Christie’s first feature-length production, “Mrs. Plum’s Pudding” (1915). When Christie entered independent production in the summer of 1916, he took Billie with him, and she was the star of his first independent production, “A Seminary Scandal” (1916).


A comedian by the name of “Smiling Billy” Parsons persuaded Billie to leave Christie and embark on independent production. He starred her in a series of Capitol Comedies released through Goldwyn and a six-reel feature, “The Girl of My Dreams,” released by First National, all in 1918. The following year, Parsons starred Billie in three feature films, “Hoop-La,” The Lamb and the Lion,” and “The Blue Bonnet.” Parsons also married Billie on February 12, 1919, but it was a short-lived relationship as he died on September 28, 1919. The death of Billy Parsons came at a bad time for Billie because there was no one to guide her and later feature films like “Miss Nobody” (1920), “His Pajama Girl” (1921) and “Fires of Youth” (1924) did nothing for her career and were commercial and critical failures. Billie remarried in 1920, and in the mid-1920’s, she went back to the stage and to night club entertaining. Billie died on March 12, 1988. She was 93 years old.

12 comments:

  1. wonderful post, Estrellita!!
    where do you find such great info!!!

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  2. Thank you, doc. I mainly find the info on these silent film stars through silent film books that I have collected over the years. I have read many silent film books that were written by authors such as Edward Wagenknecht, James Card, Jeanine Basinger, William M. Drew, etc.

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  3. Silent, I can not imagine filming one comedy per wee​k. Thank you, for your wonderful bio on, Billie Rhodes.

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  4. Thank you Dawn. I had never heard of Billie Rhodes. "Hoop-La" sounds like it would be a fun film to watch.

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  5. Thank you, Dawn. Those were the days when actors were workhorses and made so many films. I'm glad you enjoyed reading my bio on Billie Rhodes.

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  6. Silent, Now, that I'm not spotlighting "Summer Under The Stars", your amazing bios will be spotlighted for a longer period of time.

    Next year, I'm planning on spotlighting "Summer under the Stars" a little differently. So, your posts wont be buried so quickly.

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  7. Tom, It is good to see you again.. Silent, wrote this amazing bio on, Billie Rhodes.

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  8. Thank you, Dawn. It's good to know that my bios will be spotlighted for a longer period of time. I think that blonde Betty Boop is so cute and just perfect for this month.

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  9. In 1988 we found Billie Rhodes in Studio City just down the street from where we lived. We are artists, and we made a video of her with a cute story line. She was great fun, I did her make-up, she was surprisingly agile, and her sense of humor and appetite was well in tact. She was 93. I was the camera-woman and editor. My partner who discovered her, was playing his guitar in the park, he was filming himself, and when she walked by the camera, he was intrigued with her. that is how we met Billie Rhodes.

    We still have the video tape, the piece is called, "Come Alive"

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  10. What an amazing story!! Thank you for sharing. Is your video on you-tube?

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  11. It is still in Video format. It is not on utube (yet)! When we get it up I'll let you know. She was a good actress, when she spoke and took great direction. You could tell she was a real actress and my partner was just a damn good guitar player! She used what she said was the skills they used in silent films, really emphatic facial expressions. I'm sure you'll get a real kick out of it!

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  12. If you ever get your video on youtube. I will spotlight it here on N and CF.

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