Fort Towson

Grace Darling (née Foster; November 20, 1893 – October 7, 1963) was an American actress who was active in Hollywood during the silent era. She was best known for her role as Beatrice Fairfax in a 1916 serial of the same name.[1][2]

Biography

Darling was reportedly born in New York City.[3] By the mid-1910s, she was under contract at Hearst-Selig,[4] and would write travelogues for Hearst papers from her globe-trotting adventures.[5] She was a bit eccentric, and was known for carrying around a doll dressed in imaginative outfits during the height of her fame.[6] She was sometimes confused for the actress Ruth Darling, who died in a 1918 car crash in San Francisco.[7] She told reporters she married actor Pat Rooney when she was 15 years old; despite their eventual divorce, she was caring for him at the time of his death.[8] She was also married to a Harry Turek of San Francisco.[9][10]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ "Motion Pictures". The San Francisco Examiner. 10 Sep 1916. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  2. ^ Greenwood, Warren. "When Ithaca Was the Silent Hollywood". Ithaca Times. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  3. ^ "Grace Darling at the American". The Bulletin. 14 Dec 1919. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  4. ^ "Grace Darling Is on Her Way to Chicago". The San Francisco Examiner. 4 Mar 1915. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  5. ^ "Grace Darling Off to the Exposition". The San Francisco Examiner. 26 Jan 1915. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  6. ^ "Grace Darling Starts Fad of Always Carrying Boy Doll Very Queerly Dressed". The Sacramento Bee. 19 Feb 1916. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  7. ^ "Ruth Darling, Movie Actress, Killed in S.F. Automobile Accident". The Bulletin. 12 Sep 1918. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  8. ^ "Pat Rooney, Early Screen Actor, Dies". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 16 Jan 1933. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  9. ^ "Grace Darling, Movie Actress, Gets Divorce". San Francisco Chronicle. 29 May 1915. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  10. ^ Olsson, Jan (2007). Los Angeles Before Hollywood: Journalism and American Film Culture, 1905 to 1915 (PDF). Stockholm, Sweden: National Library of Sweden. ISBN 978-91-88468-06-2.