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Gladys Walton
Gladys Walton
Gladys Walton
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Gladys Walton (April 13, 1903 – November 15, 1993)[2] was an American silent film actress.

Key Information

Early life and career

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Born in Boston, Massachusetts and educated in Portland, Oregon, Gladys Walton debuted in films at the Fox Sunshine comedy studio's in 1919, doing small parts in their comedy short films.[3] As her acting talent came more out into the open, she was given larger and more important roles in films, such as La La Lucille in 1920 with Universal Studios, as well as The Secret Gift, also in 1920. She was also given her first starring role in Pink Tights (1920), opposite film star Jack Perrin. She was a contract player for Universal from 1920 to 1923, completing 28 films and earning $600 a week[4] at the peak of her career. After leaving Universal she went on to do a few independent films. Only 5 of her 38 films exist: Pink Tights from 1920, All Dolled Up from 1921, The Untameable and Sawdust both from 1923, and A Little Girl in a Big City, released in 1925.

Walton in 1924.

Walton retired from acting in 1925.[5] Gladys has been said to have done theater productions, but this is untrue. There were in fact two Gladys Waltons performing in the early 1920's. One was a theater actress on the East Coast, doing traveling stage productions, while the movie star Gladys was making films on the West Coast. Writers of the time often confused the two.[6]

Personal life

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Walton married screenwriter Frank Liddell in 1920. She later married Henry M. Herbel in 1923, with whom she had six children. She later married Spiro (Samuel) Dilles and Kenneth James Wells. All the marriages ended in divorce.

Death

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Walton died of cancer on November 15, 1993, aged 90.[5]

Walton in Rich Girl, Poor Girl (1921)

Filmography

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Gladys Walton in Risky Business (1920)
Lobby card for High Heels (1921)
Year Title Role Notes
1908 The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays Lost film
1920 La La Lucille Peggy Hughes Lost film
The Secret Gift Winnie Lost film
Pink Tights Mazie Darton
Risky Business Phillipa Lost film
1921 Rich Girl, Poor Girl Nora McShane / Beatrice Vanderfleet Lost film
All Dolled Up Maggie Quick
Desperate Youth Rosemary Merridew Lost film
The Man Tamer The Lion Tamer Lost film
Short Skirts Natalie Smith Lost film
The Rowdy Kit Purcell Lost film
High Heels Christine Trevor Lost film
Playing With Fire Enid Gregory Lost film
1922 The Guttersnipe Mazie O'Day Lost film
The Wise Kid Rosie Cooper Lost film
Second Hand Rose Rose O'Grady Lost film
The Trouper Mamie Judd Lost film
Top o' the Morning 'Jerry' O'Donnell Lost film
The Girl Who Ran Wild M'liss Lost film
The Lavender Bath Lady Mamie Conroy Lost film
A Dangerous Game Gretchen Ann Peebles Lost film
1923 The Love Letter Mary Ann McKee Lost film
Gossip Caroline Weatherbee Lost film
The Town Scandal Jean Crosby Lost film
Crossed Wires Marcel Murphy Lost film
Sawdust Nita Moore
The Untameable Edna Fielding / Joy Fielding
The Wild Party Leslie Adams Lost film
The Near Lady Nora Schultz Lost film
1925 Easy Money
Enemies of Youth Lost film
The Sky Raider Marie Lost film
Anything Once Dorothy Nixon Lost film
A Little Girl in a Big City Mary Barry
1928 The Ape Lost film[7]

References

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[edit]
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Gladys Walton

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from Grokipedia
Gladys Walton (April 13, 1903 – November 15, 1993) was an American actress known for her leading roles in silent films during the early 1920s, particularly her portrayals of spirited flappers in Universal Pictures productions. She appeared in approximately 38 feature films primarily between 1919 and 1925, rising to prominence as a youthful star who embodied the energetic, modern young woman of the era. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 13, 1903, Walton began her screen career with small roles at Fox Studios before signing with Universal, where she became popular in light romantic comedies and dramas. She retired from acting in the mid-1920s after leaving Universal in 1923 and appearing in a few independent films; she did not make the transition to sound films. Walton lived quietly in her later life in Morro Bay, California, and passed away on November 15, 1993. Walton was celebrated for her charm and screen presence in films such as The Rowdy, Sawdust, and others, which highlighted her ability to capture the carefree spirit of the era. Her work contributed to the popular image of the 1920s flapper in American cinema, though she is less remembered today compared to contemporaries like Clara Bow.

Early life

Birth and family background

Gladys Walton was born on May 30, 1903, in Boston, Massachusetts. Little is known about her early family life in reliable sources.

Move to Los Angeles and early performing experience

Walton began her entertainment career in vaudeville. She relocated to Los Angeles, where she gained experience in performing arts before entering motion pictures.

Film career

Entry into silent films and early roles

Gladys Walton entered silent films in 1920, making her screen debut in the Universal production Pink Tights, where she played the starring role of Mazie Darton opposite Jack Perrin. This marked her transition from local dance and stage experience in Los Angeles to motion pictures, with the film serving as her introduction to acting on screen. That same year, she appeared in several additional Universal releases, taking credited supporting or featured parts in films such as La La Lucille as Peggy Hughes, The Secret Gift as Winnie, and Risky Business as Phillipa. She also featured in short comedies including Monkey Business as His Tame Wife. These early appearances allowed her to gain on-set experience and establish a presence in light romantic and comedic roles before her career progressed further.

Contract with Universal and rise to prominence

Gladys Walton signed a contract with Universal Pictures in 1920, which launched the most productive phase of her silent film career. Universal promoted her as an embodiment of the emerging flapper archetype, capitalizing on her youthful energy and modern persona. In 1921, Photoplay magazine highlighted this positioning by noting that "Universal has discovered an attractive little flapper in Gladys Walton." By 1922, studio publicity had elevated her to "The Little Queen of the Flappers," while she was also popularly known as "The Glad Girl." Her first starring role under the Universal banner came in Pink Tights (1920), a comedy-drama in which she played a circus tightrope walker, and the film proved successful enough to establish her as a promising new talent. She quickly followed with leading parts in similar lighthearted features that showcased her as a slangy shopgirl or spirited young woman, including Playing With Fire and All Dolled Up (1921). Trade publications responded favorably to her flapper portrayals; The Moving Picture Weekly declared in January 1922 that she had "immortalize the quaint little figure" of the flapper and was "the perfect type for flapper roles," affirming that she had "achieved a place for herself." Through this steady output of comedy-dramas, Walton rose to prominence as one of Universal's key young leading ladies during the early 1920s.

Peak years and notable performances

Gladys Walton's peak years as a silent film actress occurred during the early to mid-1920s, when she emerged as one of the earliest and most recognized screen embodiments of the flapper archetype, several years before the character type gained widespread association with performers like Colleen Moore and Clara Bow. Contemporary trade and fan publications praised her suitability for such roles, with Photoplay in 1921 describing her as an "attractive little flapper" discovered by Universal, and The Moving Picture Weekly in 1922 asserting that she had "achieved a place for herself" as the ideal interpreter of the "quaint little figure" of the flapper—young, pretty, full of personality, and slangy. She was promoted as the "Little Queen of the Flappers" by the time of her 1922 film The Wise Kid, and her specialty lay in comedy-dramas featuring archetypal figures such as "slangy shopgirls, ‘madcap’ daughters of society matrons, and plucky runaways looking for a better life." Her most productive and visible period aligned with her intense starring schedule at Universal through 1923, where she appeared in numerous light, energetic vehicles that capitalized on her comedic flair and youthful energy. Notable performances from this era include Sawdust (1923), a circus-themed drama in which she performed her own stunts, and The Untameable (1923), which showcased her in a dual role exploring a split personality. These films exemplified her typical character types and contributed to her reputation as the "darling of the five-reelers," a nickname that reflected her prominence in mid-length Universal productions. Following her abrupt departure from Universal in 1923 due to a pay dispute, Walton continued her career briefly in independent productions, maintaining her flapper-comedienne image through 1925. Her final notable appearances came in Little Girl in a Big City (1925) and The Sky Raider (1925), after which she retired from acting. Though she never reached A-list status, her steady output and distinctive persona during these years cemented her as a representative figure of the flapper era in silent cinema.

Decline and retirement from acting

Walton's prolific output during the early to mid-1920s, with dozens of starring roles produced in rapid succession, ultimately led to physical and emotional exhaustion that contributed to the decline of her acting career. She described the Universal studio system as relentlessly grinding out films, a pace that wore her down after starring in around thirty pictures over just three years. In a 1981 interview, Walton explained that she retired in 1925 because she "ran off and married and moved to Chicago and had six kids." She completed her final screen appearances in Little Girl in a Big City and The Sky Raider, after which she retired from acting and disappeared from the film industry. Her departure occurred before the widespread transition to sound films in the late 1920s, meaning the shift to talkies had no direct impact on her career as she had already left the screen. No records indicate any attempted comebacks or further film appearances following her 1925 exit.

Personal life

Marriages and relationships

Gladys Walton's personal life included multiple marriages that coincided with and followed her silent film career. She first married screenwriter Frank Liddell in 1921, though the union lasted only six months and ended largely due to her demanding filming schedule. Later in life, she often forgot the marriage had occurred at all. Her second marriage was to sales manager Henry Merritt Herbel in 1923, and it lasted until the mid-1950s. Around the time she retired from films in 1925, Walton described eloping and relocating to Chicago as marking the end of her "movie phase." Following the end of that marriage, she married a third time to fighter pilot Spiro Dilles; they remained together for several years before divorcing. She also had a fourth short marriage to Kenneth James Wells. No additional significant relationships are documented.

Children and family life

Gladys Walton had six children with her second husband, Henry Herbel. After retiring from her film career in 1925, she moved to Chicago and devoted herself to family life, later stating that she "ran off and married and moved to Chicago and had six kids." The family eventually settled on a 40-acre ranch in the San Fernando Valley, where they raised horses and other animals in a rural setting that she described as wonderful for the children. Walton, who had been an only child herself, expressed delight in having such a large family, noting that six children represented quite a change from her own upbringing. Her children were Mary Jane Williamson, Janice Meyers, Gloria Eberhardt, John Herbel, Robert Herbel, and Edward Herbel.

Later years and death

Post-Hollywood life

After her silent film career ended around 1925, Gladys Walton focused on family life and eventually moved to Chicago, where she raised her six children. In her later decades, she settled in the seaside town of Morro Bay, California, where she resided for more than twenty years. In Morro Bay, Walton personally built her home, which she named "Gladys' Castle" to distinguish it from the nearby Hearst Castle. At age 76, she constructed a lighthouse in her backyard equipped with an elevator, allowing her to reach the top and watch sunsets. Her home was filled with antiques, souvenirs from foreign travels, and memorabilia from her acting days, including a folding screen adorned with her old portraits. Walton pursued diverse interests in retirement, becoming an aviator, breeding championship horses and French poodles, and working as a sculptor. She also learned to paint, raised dogs and birds, enjoyed time with her grandchildren, and went dancing several times a week even into her late eighties. She continued to receive fan mail from admirers who remembered her silent film performances.

Death

Gladys Walton died on November 15, 1993, in Morro Bay, California, at the age of 90. She passed away from cancer at a nursing home in the city where she had resided for many years. Her son Robert Herbel confirmed the cause of death.
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