
Lila Lee
Born July 25, 1905 · Union Hill, New Jersey, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel, July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. In 1918, she was chosen for a film contract by Hollywood film mogul Jesse Lasky for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which later became Paramount Pictures. Her first feature, The Cruise of the Make-Believes, garnered the teenaged starlet much public acclaim and Lasky quickly sent Lee on an arduous publicity campaign. Critics lauded Lila for her wholesome persona and sympathetic character parts. Lee quickly rose to the ranks of leading lady and often starred opposite such matinee heavies as Conrad Nagel, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Reid, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, and Rudolph Valentino. Lee bore more than a slight resemblance to Ann Little, a former Paramount star and frequent Reid co-star who was leaving the film business and at this stage in her career an even stronger resemblance to Marguerite Clark. In 1922 Lee was cast as Carmen in the enormously popular film Blood and Sand, opposite matinee idol Rudolph Valentino and silent screen vamp Nita Naldi; Lee subsequently won the first WAMPAS Baby Stars award that year. Lee continued to be a highly popular leading lady throughout the 1920s and made scores of critically praised and widely watched films. As the Roaring Twenties drew to a close, Lee's popularity began to wane and Lee positioned herself for the transition to talkies. She is one of the few leading ladies of the silent screen whose popularity did not nosedive with the coming of sound. She went back to working with the major studios and appeared, most notably, in The Unholy Three, in 1930, opposite Lon Chaney Sr. in his only talkie. However, a series of bad career choices and bouts of recurring tuberculosis and alcoholism hindered further projects and Lee was relegated to taking parts in mostly grade B movies.
Notable Appearances
More Movies

The Show of Shows

The Legend of Rudolph Valentino

Male and Female

Queen of the Night Clubs

Second Wife

The Heart of Youth

A Trip to Paramountown

The Man in Hobbles

Face in the Sky

The Night of June 13

Is Matrimony a Failure?

Jane Goes A-Wooing

Broken Hearts

A Daughter of the Wolf

Radio Patrol

I Can't Escape

Hawthorne of the U.S.A.

Gasoline Gus

Hollywood

The Cruise of the Make-Believes

Puppy Love

The Ne'er-Do-Well

In Love with Life

The People's Enemy

Such a Little Pirate

The Unholy Three

Blood and Sand

The Emperor's New Clothes

Lone Cowboy

Black Butterflies

Back Home and Broke

Whirlpool

Another Man's Wife

The Little Wild Girl

Flight

Fascinating Youth

Those Who Dance

The Midnight Girl

The Dollar-a-Year Man

Country Gentlemen

Woman-Proof

Love, Live & Laugh

War Correspondent

Two Wise Maids

The Prince Chap

The New Klondike

The Ghost Breaker

Ebb Tide

The Sacred Flame

The Lottery Man

The Wampas Baby Stars of 1922

Just Married

The Gorilla

Exposure

Woman Hungry

Crazy to Marry

Terror Island

The Iron Master

After the Show

Old Home Week

The Adorable Cheat

The Charm School

Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers

False Faces

Top Sergeant Mulligan

Officer Thirteen

Misbehaving Ladies

Double Cross Roads

Wandering Husbands

Rustling a Bride

The Secret Garden

The Easy Road

Honky Tonk

Drag

Midsummer Madness

Million Dollar Mystery

Nation Aflame

Dark Streets

Homeward Bound

The Dictator

The Intruder

Coming Through

Unholy Love

One Glorious Day

The Argyle Case

One Increasing Purpose

The Fast Freight

Love's Whirlpool

Murder Will Out




