Born 1896 in Chicago, Illinois, American actress Blanche Sweet was known for her energetic, independent roles. In 1913, she starred in Judith of Bethulia. Throughout the 1910s, she continued her career appearing in a number of highly prominent roles in films and remained a publicly popular leading lady. She was recognized by leading film critics of the time to be one of the foremost actresses of the entire silent era.
During the early 1920s, Sweet’s career continued to prosper, and she starred in the first film version of Anna Christie in 1923. The film is notable as being the first Eugene O’Neill play to be made into a motion picture. In successive years, she starred in Tess of the d’Urbervilles and The Sporting Venus. Sweet soon began a career phase as one of the newly-formed MGM’s biggest stars.
Sweet’s career faltered with the advent of sound films. She made just three talking pictures, including her critically lauded performance in Show Girl in Hollywood (1930), then retired in 1930. In the late 1960s, her acting legacy was resurrected when film scholars invited her to Europe to receive recognition for her work.
In 1975, Sweet was honored with the George Eastman Award for distinguished contribution to the art of film. She died of a stroke in New York City in 1986, aged 90. Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see portraits of young Blanche Sweet in the 1910s and 1920s.
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