Ethyle Cooke , was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 actress of the 1910s. In 1915, she married another prominent silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 of the time, Harry Benham

Harry Benham

Harry Benham was an American silent film actor.-Background:Born in Valparaiso, Indiana, as a child Benham and his family moved to Chicago, where he was raised and attended school...

. Ethyle starred in many popular movies, such as A Small Town Girl, Stronger than Death, and The Fugitive.

Background

Ethyle Cooke was born in Lynn, Massachusetts

Lynn, Massachusetts

Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...

. She grew up in her hometown, and was educated at the Girls' Latin School in nearby Boston. Ethyle began her stage career early when, at the age of 12, she performed at the Boston Museum (even though she had been tap dancing since the age of 6).

Career at Thanhouser

Her film career began in 1911, when she joined the Thanhouser film company, and she remained there until 1917. In 1915, while producing a film, she married Harry Benham

Harry Benham

Harry Benham was an American silent film actor.-Background:Born in Valparaiso, Indiana, as a child Benham and his family moved to Chicago, where he was raised and attended school...

, another actor working at the Thanhouser. They lived a long, happily married life and had two children, Dorothy and Leland Benham, who were also prominent Thanhouser personalities, as they appeared in several films.

By mid-1914, she had over 200 screen appearances, and her nickname on the set came to be known as 'Cookie'. During this time at Thanhouser, she spent one year starring in lead roles with Florence LaBadie. In The Moving Picture World

The Moving Picture World

The Moving Picture World was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. By 1914, it had a reported circulation of approximately 15,000.The publication was founded by James Petrie Chalmers, Jr...

produced in 1916, it told of Ethyle's close association with LaBadie: "When you see Florence LaBadie's name in the cast of a photoplay, close by you will find Ethyle Cooke's. At the Thanhouser studios they wouldn't think of casting a Florence LaBadie feature without putting Ethyle Cook in it." In the movie The Fugitive, Ethyle's character committed a murder, while letting Florence's take the blame. Another film where they worked closely together was in The Fear of Poverty, where LaBadie's character ran off with Ethyle's fiance. Finally, in Saint, Devil, and Woman, Ethyle suffers at the mercy of a man who also has power over LaBadie.

Ethyle Cooke was also very active off the set. On September 7, 1912, Ethyle attended the Thanhouser family picnic

Picnic

In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...

 and also played on the Thanhouser woman's softball team in the summer of 1915.

Ethyle Cooke died in Waukesha, Wisconsin

Waukesha, Wisconsin

Waukesha is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The population was 70,718 at the 2010 census, making it the largest community in the county and 7th largest in the state. The city is located adjacent to the Town of Waukesha...

, aged 63.

Filmography

• Nicholas Nickleby (1912) .... Actress playing Juliet
• Dottie's New Doll (1912)
• The Merchant of Venice
  The Merchant of Venice
  The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
  
   (1912) .... Nerissa
• The Wrecked Taxi (1912)
• Lucile (1912)
• The Star of Bethlehem (1912)
• A Fall Into Luck (1913)
• A Clothes-Line Quarrel (1913)
• Their Great Big Beautiful Doll (1913)
• What Might Have Been (1913)
• An Orphan's Romance (1913)
• The Head Waiter (1913)
• An Amateur Animal Trainer (1913)
• Twins and a Stepmother (1914)
• A Leak in the Foreign Office (1914)
• A Decree of Justice (1914)
• The Infant Heart Snatcher (1914)
• The Smouldering Spark (1914)
• A Woman's Loyalty (1914)
• Algy's Alibi (1914) .... Maude, Algy's Wife
• The Scrub Lady (1914)
• Deborah (1914) .... Anna
• A Gentleman for a Day (1914)
• The Butterfly Bug (1914)
• Stronger Than Death (1914)
• A Dog's Love (1914) .... Helen's mother
• The Turning of the Road (1914) .... Sidney's Wife
• Keeping a Husband (1914)
• A Messenger of Gladness (1914)
• Mrs. Van Ruyter's Stratagem (1914)
• In Wild Man's Land (1914)
• In the Conservatory (1914)
• A Hatful of Trouble (1914) .... Effie Linton
• His Sister's Kiddies (1915)
• Daughter of Kings (1915)
• It's an Ill Wind (1915)
• The Six-Cent Loaf (1915)
• His Guardian Auto (1915)
• Ebenezer Explains (1915)
• The Two Cent Mystery (1915)
• Old Jane of the Gaiety (1915)
• His Two Patients (1915) .... A Wealthy Patient
• The Game (1915)
• Gussie, the Graceful Lifeguard (1915)
• The Crogmere Ruby (1915)
• Snapshots (1915)
• From the River's Depths (1915)
• The Mother of Her Dreams (1915)
• The Commuted Sentence (1915)
• Mr. Meeson's Will (1915)
• Inspiration (1915)
  Inspiration (1915 film)
  Inspiration is a 1915 American silent film written by Virginia Tyler Hudson and directed by George Foster Platt and starring Audrey Munson. It is notable for being the first non-pornographic American film to feature full nudity of a woman....
  
  .... Undetermined Role
• All Aboard (1915/II)
• His Vocation (1915) .... Nurse
• The Necklace of Pearls (1915)
• Their Last Performance (1915)
• The Spirit of the Game (1916)
• What Doris Did (1916)
• A Man's Sins (1916)
• John Brewster's Wife (1916)
• The Fugitive (1916) .... Anna Prentice
• The Fear of Poverty (1916) .... Betty Alsted
• Saint, Devil and Woman (1916) .... Grace Carter
• The Pillory (1916) .... Meg Doherty
• Her New York (1917) .... Laura
• Her Life and His (1917) .... Mrs. Nan Travers
• The Small Town Girl (1917) .... Mame
• The Candy Girl (1917)
• Patsy (1917) .... Alice Hewitt
• Convict 993 (1918) .... Stella Preston

External links