Theater

Toner was married to actor Harry Childs by 1904. They were in the play The Sign of the Cross which toured beginning in the fall of
1904.

She was in the cast of The College Widow, a comedy satire

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 of college life, produced by George Ade

George Ade

George Ade was an American writer, newspaper columnist, and playwright.-Biography:Ade was born in Kentland, Indiana, one of seven children raised by John and Adaline Ade. While attending Purdue University, he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity...

. The theatrical presentation
was performed at the McDonough Theater in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

 in
November 1906. Louise Rutter appeared in the title role.

The Henry Wilson Savage

Henry Wilson Savage

Henry Wilson Savage was an American theatrical manager. He was born in New York City and graduated from Harvard in 1880. He became president of the Henry W. Savage Company, Inc., and of the Castle Square Opera Company of Boston, and director of the National Association of Theatrical Producing...

 Company, with the troupe of the The College Widow, arrived in Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

 by boat on August 24, 1906. The comedy was given in Portland before audiences at the Jefferson Theater. It also was staged in Kennebec County, Maine

Kennebec County, Maine

Kennebec County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2010, its population was 122,151. Its county seat is Augusta. The center of population of Maine is located in Kennebec County, in the city of Augusta....

, at the Opera House. The stock company's travels took them west to Fresno, California

Fresno, California

Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

 and Winnipeg, Manitoba, in addition to Oakland.

In August 1908 she replaced Laura Nelson Hall in the role of Pamela, in a production of
Girls at Daly's Theater on Broadway. A Clyde Fitch

Clyde Fitch

Clyde Fitch was an American dramatist.-Biography:Born William Clyde Fitch at Elmira, New York, he wrote over 60 plays, 36 of them original, which varied from social comedies and farces to melodrama and historical dramas.As the only child to live to adulthood, his father, Captain William G...

 farce

Farce

In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...

, the comedy made the run of the Shubert Theater chain. It was presented in La Crosse, Wisconsin

La Crosse, Wisconsin

La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 52,485...

 in October 1908 prior to an engagement in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

.

Toner acted at the Union Square (New York City)

Union Square (New York City)

Union Square is a public square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.It is an important and historic intersection, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century; its name celebrates neither the...

 Theatre of Benjamin Franklin Keith

Benjamin Franklin Keith

Benjamin Franklin Keith was an American vaudeville theatre owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville.-Early years:...

 in Tricked in April 1913. She was joined on stage by actor Albert Gran

Albert Gran

Albert Gran was a Norwegian born American movie actor. He is most associated with his appearance in drama and light comedy films....

.

Motion Pictures

Toner made The Broken Toy, a two-reel heart interest drama with Violet Mersereau

Violet Mersereau

Violet Mersereau was an American silent movie star.Her career spanned the years from 1908-1926. She was born in New York, New York and was educated there. As a young girl she played child parts in stock. She toured with Margaret Anglin and had a role in the original company of The Clansman. The...

, in 1915. The movie is about a dancer who marries a millionaire and fears that he will no longer love her if she loses her ability to dance.

She plays a bar maid in the National Film Corporation of America movie Tarzan of the Apes (film)

Tarzan of the Apes (film)

Tarzan of the Apes is a 1918 American action/adventure silent film directed by Scott Sidney starring Elmo Lincoln, Enid Markey, George B. French and Gordon Griffith. The movie was the first Tarzan movie ever made, and is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' original novel Tarzan of the Apes...

 (1918). Filmed at Griffith Park

Griffith Park

Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America...

, the production took six months to complete. Elmo Lincoln

Elmo Lincoln

Elmo Lincoln was an American film actor.Born Otto Elmo Linkenhelt, the barrel-chested actor is best known in his silent movie role as the first Tarzan in 1918's Tarzan of the Apes as an adult --...

and Enid Markey

Enid Markey

Enid Markey was an American actress of stage, film and television. She originated the role of Jane in films, playing the character twice - in 1918 .Her first film role was in The Fortunes of War...

are the leading actors in the cast.

Toner's other screen credits are for The Turn of the Tide (1914),
Human Hearts (1914), The Millionaire Engineer (1915), An All Around Mistake (1915), and The Romance of Tarzan (1918).

With the advent of radio and motion picture sound, Toner established a successful second career in her later years as a voice teacher

Personal Life

Elizabeth Toner married S. Russell Chesley, a businessman and socialite in 1914. She had two sons, Harry Childs Jr., from her first marriage, and Russell Chesley Jr., from her second. She moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1918 to pursue her acting career. Her grandson, Russell H. Chesley, is an entertainment industry executive and motion picture writer and producer