Charlotte Pierce

For the American suffragist, see Charlotte Woodward Pierce.

Charlotte Pierce
Publicity photo (probably for Peaceful Valley) from the April 23, 1921, issue of the publication Camera!
Born(1904-10-22)October 22, 1904
Girard, Illinois, U.S.
DiedNovember 23, 1996(1996-11-23) (aged 92)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupationactress
Known forsilent films

Charlotte Pierce (October 22, 1904 – November 23, 1996) was an American actress in silent films.

Early life

Charlotte Elaine Pierce was born in Girard, Illinois,[1] and raised in Salina, Kansas,[2] the daughter of Schuyler Rensselaer Pierce and Faye Ransom Pierce. Her father was an engineer involved in construction.[3][4]

Career

Advertisement for The Super-Sex (1922), starring Charlotte Pierce, a Frank R. Adams Production. A young woman is shown looking over her shoulder at two older men and two older women.
Advertisement for The Super-Sex (1922), starring Charlotte Pierce.

Pierce was a dancer[5] and dance teacher as a young woman.[6] She was helped into movies by actress Cathrine Curtis[1] and by screenwriter Elinor Glyn.[7]

Pierce appeared in the silent films beginning in her teen years, as "an ingenue of the Pickford type",[8] including roles in Peaceful Valley (1921),[9] The Man of the Forest (1921),[7] The Barnstormer (1922),[10] Gas, Oil and Water (1922),[11] The Woman He Married (1922),[2] Colleen of the Pines (1922),[12] A Tailor-Made Man (1922),[5] The Veiled Woman (1922), The Lavender Bath Lady (1922), The Super-Sex (1922),[13] Thru the Flames (1923), The Courtship of Miles Standish (1923), Sky's the Limit (1925), The Wildcat (1925),[14] Queen of Spades (1925), West of Mojave (1925), The Sheep Trail (1926), and The Fighting Gob (1926).[15]

Personal life

Charlotte Pierce married actor and musician William Virgil Mays in 1922.[5][16] They divorced in 1923.[17] In 1926,[18] she married a second time, to Salvino J. "Solly" Baiano, a talent scout, casting director, violinist, and tennis champion.[19] They had a daughter, Lonnie, and a son, Michael. Both of their children acted in films.[20] Michael Baiano married singer Jaye P. Morgan in 1954.[21] Charlotte Pierce Baiano was widowed when Solly Baiano died in 1992,[22] and she died in Los Angeles, November 23, 1996, aged 92 years. Her grave is with her husband's, in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ a b "Sought a Small Part and was Chosen to Play Lead". The Ottawa Citizen. October 7, 1922. p. 19. Retrieved August 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "Charlotte Pierce at Palace". The Salina Evening Journal. November 18, 1922. p. 16. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Charlotte Pierce Married". The Salina Daily Union. August 13, 1922. p. 6. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Schuyler R. Pierce". The Los Angeles Times. March 13, 1946. p. 12. Retrieved August 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Actress Will Dance". The Los Angeles Times. August 17, 1922. p. 29. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Sheer Luck Opens Career For Charlotte Pierce". San Pedro News Pilot. April 19, 1924. p. 6. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  7. ^ a b "New Screen Favorite". Los Angeles Herald. June 6, 1921. p. B3. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  8. ^ "First El Paso Film, 'Treasure Trail', to Cost $50,000, is Brenon Estimate". El Paso Herald. August 17, 1920. p. 12. Retrieved August 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Charlotte Pierce Comes Back Home with Charles Ray". The Salina Evening Journal. December 11, 1920. p. 16. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Charlotte Pierce Again Ray's Leading Lady". Santa Ana Register. July 7, 1922. p. 14. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ McElliott (July 6, 1922). "This Guileless Youth Detects the Villain". Daily News. p. 17. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Mounted Police and Charlotte Pierce at Grand This Week". The Salina Daily Union. September 19, 1922. p. 3. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "The Super-Sex (advertisement)". Motion Picture News. 26: 2851. December 9, 1922 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ^ "The Wildcat (1925)". Silent Era : Progressive Silent Film List. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  15. ^ "Advertisement". The Paducah Sun-Democrat. August 3, 1928. p. 7. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Charlotte Pierce Has Signed Life Contract". The Capital Times. August 3, 1922. p. 7. Retrieved August 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Husband Too Costly, She Says". The Los Angeles Times. May 1, 1923. p. 19. Retrieved August 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Marriage Licenses". The Los Angeles Times. July 10, 1926. p. 16. Retrieved August 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Baiano Cops Honors in Net Event". The Los Angeles Times. May 31, 1936. p. 27. Retrieved August 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Mike Goes it Alone". Oakland Tribune. March 7, 1959. p. 5. Retrieved August 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Cohen, Martin (1954). "More than Money can Buy". Radio TV Mirror. pp. 44–45, 78. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Internet Archive.
  22. ^ "Salvino J. 'Solly' Baiano". The Los Angeles Times. December 29, 1992. p. 98. Retrieved August 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.