Ann Little (born Mary Hankins Brooks; February 7, 1891 – May 21, 1984), also known as Anna Little, was an American film actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the early 1910s through the early 1920s. Today, most of her films are lost, with only 12 known to survive.
Life and career
Ann Little was born Mary Hankins Brooks on February 7, 1891, on a ranch in Mount Shasta, California. She was the only child of Mary Mariah "Mamie" Hankins Brooks, who was from Montana, and James Luther Brooks, who was from New York.[1][2] In the 1900 census, she is listed as living in Chicago, Illinois, alongside her mother and father as roomers.[3] She appears in the 1910 census as living in Mount Shasta again as a roomer with the Levy family, and her marital status is "married".[4] Little first appeared in a traveling, stock-theater group after graduating from high school at age 16.[5]
After briefly relocating to San Francisco in the early 1910s,[citation needed] she acted in musical comedies on stage[6] before she made the transition to films; first appearing in one-reel Western shorts with actor and director Broncho Billy Anderson. Her first film appearance was in the 1911 release The Indian Maiden's Lesson as a Native American named Red Feather. Little subsequently appeared as Native American characters in many of her earliest films.[citation needed]
Although possibly best recalled for her appearances in Westerns, Little showed versatility as an actress by appearing in a number of well-received roles in other dramatic genres and even comedies. Most notably among her dramatic roles was the early American cinematic Civil War serials directed by William J. Bauman and Thomas Ince. Another notable film was the 1914 Ruth Ann Baldwin-penned and Allan Dwan-adapted epic Damon and Pythias, which had thousands of extras. While signed under contract to Universal Studios, she made nearly six serials, most of them Western-themed one- and two-reel dramas.[citation needed]
Little in Motion Picture Magazine, June 1915
By 1917, Little signed to Paramount Pictures and was often paired with highly successful actor Wallace Reid in a number of popular dramas and comedies. Although she was allegedly tired of being typecast in Western serials,[citation needed] she starred opposite cowboy actor Jack Hoxie in the 1919 serial Lightning Bryce. She left Famous Players–Lasky studios in 1919 to sign with National Film Corporation.[7]
By the early 1920s, Little only took dramatic roles outside the Western genre. Some of her notable films in this period include the World War I drama The Firefly of France (1918), the race-car adventure films The Roaring Road (1919) and Excuse My Dust (1920) with Wallace Reid, The Cradle of Courage with William S. Hart, and the crime-drama The Greatest Menace (1923) opposite Wilfred Lucas.[citation needed]
Later years
While still at the peak of her public popularity in the early 1920s, Little retired from the motion picture industry. In her later years, she managed the Chateau Marmont on the Sunset Strip, but rarely spoke of her years in acting.[8]
