Often overshadowed by fellow Griffith actress Lillian Gish, Blanche Sweet was a gifted actress of an entirely different type. Though she possessed Griffith's favorite cloud of blond hair (which she was among the first to bob in the twenties), her robust good looks and impression of physical strength made her the only one of Griffith's actresses who could have convincingly played Judith of Bethulia (1914). She was getting most of his plum parts when she left in 1914 for the Lasky Feature Play Company to work with both De Mille brothers. These later films are less well known today than her Griffith films, but she continued as an actress of strength and character in many films of the late teens and twenties, seeking out challenging roles such as Anna Christie (1923) and the now lost Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1924). Her talkie appearances were few, but she walks away with the otherwise ghastly Showgirl in Hollywood (1930)

©2001, by Greta de Groat. All Rights Reserved

Last revised June 17, 2008