Leah Baird

American actress

Arthur F. Beck

(m. 1914)

Leah Baird (born Ada Frankenstein; June 20, 1883 – October 3, 1971)^[1] was an American actress and screenwriter.

Life

Baird was born in Champaign County, Illinois.^[2] ^[3] on June 20, 1883, the daughter of William Frankenstein and Bertha Schreiver Frankenstein Rathjen. She had two older sisters, Augusta and Mathilda. Both her parents were alcoholics and her mother was one of the richest madams in Central Illinois.

An early star for Vitagraph Studios,^[4] Baird began her film career in 1910 in Jean and the Waif opposite Jean, the Vitagraph Dog. She played several leads in William F. Brady's troupe, opposite Douglas Fairbanks. In the late 1910s she played in 15 episodes of the serial Wolves of Kultur. Baird wrote and produced film during the 1920s.^[5]

Baird later became a screenwriter and contributed to a number of Clara Bow features.^{[citation needed]} She was married to producer Arthur F. Beck.^[3]

Baird was under contract to Warner Bros. for seventeen years, where she appeared in character roles and as an extra.^[6]

Partial filmography

Actress

Jean and the Waif (1910, Short)
Chumps (1912, Short) - Terpsine - the Cause
A Cure for Pokeritis (1912, Short)
All for a Girl (1912, Short) - Mrs. Gardner
Red and White Roses (1913, Short) - Beth Whitney
Hearts of the First Empire (1913, Short) - Beatrice
Ivanhoe (1913) - Rebecca of York
Absinthe (1914) - Madame Dumas
Neptune's Daughter (1914) - Princess Olga
The Man That Might Have Been (1914, Short) - Mrs. William Rudd
Lights of New York (1916) - Yolande Cowles
The People vs. John Doe (1916) - Woman Lawyer
The Devil's Pay Day (1917) - Jean Haskins
One Law for Both (1917) - Helen
Sins of Ambition (1917) - Laurette Maxwell
The Fringe of Society (1917) - Myra Strang
A Sunset (1917)
Moral Suicide (1918) - Fay Hope
Life or Honor? (1918) - Helen West
Wolves of Kultur (1918) - Alice Grayson
The Echo of Youth (1919) - Olive Martin
As a Man Thinks (1919) - Elinor Clayton
The Volcano (1919) - Ruth Carroll
The Capitol (1919) - Margaret Kennard / Agnes Blake
Cynthia of the Minute (1920) - Cynthia
The Heart Line (1921) - Fancy Gray
The Bride's Confession (1921)
Don't Doubt Your Wife (1922) - Rose Manning
When the Devil Drives (1922) - Blanche Mansfield
When Husbands Deceive (1922) - Viola Baxter
Is Divorce A Failure? (1923) - Carol Lockwood
The Destroying Angel (1923) - Mary Miller / Saraa Law
The Miracle Makers (1923) - Doris Mansfield
Fangs of the Wolf (1924)
The Unnamed Woman (1925) - Billie Norton
Bullets for O'Hara (1941) - Police Matron
Bad Men of Missouri (1941) - Ms. Brooks (uncredited)
Manpower (1941) - Mrs. Taylor - Prison Matron (uncredited)
One Foot in Heaven (1941) - Minor Role (uncredited)
Blues in the Night (1941) - Nurse (uncredited)
The Body Disappears (1941) - Rest Home Nurse (uncredited)
Dangerously They Live (1941) - Fake Telephone Operator (uncredited)
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) - Fan at Train Station (uncredited)
All Through the Night (1942) - Woman (uncredited)
Kings Row (1942) - Aunt Mamie (uncredited)
The Male Animal (1942) - Trustee's Wife (uncredited)
Lady Gangster (1942) - Prison Matron
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) - Housekeeper (uncredited)
The Big Shot (1942) - Mrs. Carter (uncredited)
Secret Enemies (1942) - Hotel Maid (uncredited)
Busses Roar (1942) - Second Old Maid
Truck Busters (1943) - Floor Nurse (uncredited)
Air Force (1943) - Nurse #2 (uncredited)
Action in the North Atlantic (1943) - Mother (uncredited)
This Is the Army (1943) - Old-Timer's Wife (uncredited)
Watch on the Rhine (1943) - Miss Drake (uncredited)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) - Bus Passenger (uncredited)
The Desert Song (1943) - Arab Woman (uncredited)
The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944) - Elderly Woman (uncredited)
Make Your Own Bed (1944) - John's Wife (uncredited)
The Last Ride (1944) - Mrs. Bronson (uncredited)
Pillow to Post (1945) - Sailor's Mother (uncredited)
Mildred Pierce (1945) - Police Matron (uncredited)
My Reputation (1946) - Minor Role (uncredited)
Shadow of a Woman (1946) - Mrs. Calvin
The Verdict (1946) - French Charwoman (uncredited)
Humoresque (1946) - Professor (uncredited)
Flaxy Martin (1949) - Tenement Resident (uncredited)
The Girl from Jones Beach (1949) - Board Member (uncredited)
The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950) - Police Matron (uncredited)
How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955) - (uncredited)
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) - Minor Role (uncredited)
The Phantom Stagecoach (1957) - Mrs. Simms (uncredited)
The Hard Man (1957) - Townswoman (uncredited) (final film role)

Writer

The Dawning (1912)
Cynthia-Of-The-Minute (1920), scenario
Don't Doubt Your Wife (1922), scenario
When Husbands Deceive (1922), scenario
When the Devil Drives (1922), scenario
The Miracle Makers (1923), story
The Destroying Angel (1923), scenario
Is Divorce a Failure? (1923), scenario
Barriers Burned Away (1925), scenario
The Primrose Path (1925), screenplay
The Unnamed Woman (1925), story
Devil's Island (1926), scenario
Spangles (1926), scenario
Shadow of the Law (1926), scenario
The False Alarm (1926), scenario
The Return of Boston Blackie (1927), screenplay and continuity
Stolen Pleasures (1927), story
Jungle Bride (1933), story

Producer

Cynthia of the Minute (1920)
Shadow of the Law (1926)

References

^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-7864-0983-9. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
^ She herself states her birthplace is Champaign County, Illinois New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Author Ancestry.com Publisher Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, R
^ ^a ^b "Picture stars all work hard". The Daily Reporter. Indiana, Greenfield. November 3, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved August 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Jungmeyer, Jack (August 30, 1924). "Famous author-actress, Leah Baird, has unique view; says don't discount 12-year-olds". Reading Times. Pennsylvania, Reading. NEA. p. 7. Retrieved August 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Blaetz, Robin. "Leah Baird". Women Film Pioneers. Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
^ Slide, Anthony. Hollywood Unknowns: A History of the Extras, Bit Players, and Stand-Ins. Jackson: University of Missouri Press. p 167.