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Marion Leonard
Marion Leonard
	The Theater of Science, 1914
Born	June 9, 1881; Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died	January 9, 1956 (aged 74); Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1908–1915, 1926
Spouse	Stanner E.V. Taylor

Marion Leonard (June 9, 1881 – January 9, 1956) was an American stage actress who became one of the first motion picture celebrities in the early years of the silent film era.^[1]

Early career

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Marion Leonard began her acting career in live theatre, but at the age of 27 she started performing in the rapidly expanding film industry. She signed a contract in 1908 with the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company and initially worked at that studio's production facilities in New York City, which were then located at 11 East 14th Street in Manhattan. There she made her screen debut in At the Crossroads of Life, a short directed by Wallace McCutcheon, Jr. and written by D. W. Griffith, who also acted in that film and directed the vast majority of Leonard's other films at Biograph.^{[citation needed]}

Shortly after her screen debut, Leonard became one of the company's leading "photoplayers". At a time when screen credits were not given to actors, she and Florence Auer were the first star actresses to be billed by the studio as a "Biograph Girl". Among the many films Leonard made at Biograph, 32 of them were with an up-and-coming young actress named Mary Pickford.^{[citation needed]}

Marriage and switch to Universal Pictures

While working for Biograph, Leonard met screenwriter/director Stanner E.V. Taylor and a personal relationship developed that led to marriage.^[2] They created their own studio, the Gem Motion Picture Company, in 1911 to benefit from Leonard's increasing popularity.^[3]

In 1915, after appearing in more than 150 motion pictures, Leonard retired from film acting. She returned, however, 11 years later at age 45 for one final screen appearance in a 1926 Mack Sennett comedy.

Leonard died in 1956 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.^{[citation needed]}

Selected filmography

Year	Film	Role
1909	The Gibson Goddess	Nanette Ranfrea
	The Prussian Spy	Lady Florence
	The Golden Louis	Reveler
	A Fool's Revenge	The Daughter
	A Rude Hostess	Mrs. Leffingwell
	The Roue's Heart	Sculptress
	And a Little Child Shall Lead Them	The Mother
	Leather Stocking	Colonel's Nieces
	A Burglar's Mistake	Mrs. Newman
	A Trap for Santa	Helen Rogers
	Pippa Passes	Ottima
	Two Memories	Marion Francis
	Nursing a Viper	The Wife
	The Sealed Room	The Countess
1913	Carmen	Carmen
1914	The Awakening of Donna Isolla

References

^ The Theater of Science vol. 29 1914
^ Gallen, Ira H. (15 December 2015). D.W. Griffith: Master of Cinema. FriesenPress. ISBN 978-1-4602-6099-9. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
^ Mahar, Karen Ward (25 August 2008). Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood. JHU Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-8018-9084-0. Retrieved September 10, 2021.

External links

Marion Leonard at IMDb
Marion Leonard at Women Film Pioneers Project

[1] The Theater of Science vol. 29 1914

[2] Gallen, Ira H. (15 December 2015). D.W. Griffith: Master of Cinema. FriesenPress. ISBN 978-1-4602-6099-9. Retrieved September 10, 2021.

[wfeh-3] Mahar, Karen Ward (25 August 2008). Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood. JHU Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-8018-9084-0. Retrieved September 10, 2021.

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