Flora Le Breton
Encyclopedia
Flora le Breton was an English
silent film
actress from Croydon
, Surrey
, England. She was blonde with dark blue eyes. In her own country she was called the English Mary Pickford
.
, French
, Scottish
and Irish
. Her Scottish
heritage was lengthy. She was related to Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll
. Her home was the ancestral Ware Park. It dated to the 15th century. Le Breton's mother was widowed and her brother was killed in World War I
. Her sister married a major
and resided in Hong Kong
.
in London
. Le Breton earned a scholarship there at the age of fifteen. Founded by Sir Herbert Tree, the academy grant was presented to her by Sir Squire Bancroft
and Sir John Hare
.
She secured the role of a London flower girl and played opposite Sir Gerald du Maurier
for an entire year in the English capital. She was noticed by Andre Charlot, who envisioned her as an English soubrette
. He put Le Breton in several revues in which she sang and
performed a stiff-legged doll dance that became the highlight of the shows.
heavyweight
boxer, Georges Carpentier
, made a cameo appearance
in the British silent film. Le Breton won many of the London film favourite contests along with actress Betty Balfour
. She appeared
in the first coloured motion picture made in Great Britain
. The Glorious Adventure
(1922) starred Lady Diana Cooper
and Victor McLaglen
. Produced by J. Stuart Blackton
, founder of Vitagraph Studios
, the motion picture was filmed in Prizma
colour.
As a dancer Le Breton and her partner, Cecil Rubens, won the world's
amateur dancing championship in February 1923.
Le Breton arrived in America
in January 1924. Among her early Hollywood films is Another Scandal (1924). She had the third
lead after Lois Wilson and Holmes Herbert. Filmed in Florida
, the movie was a production of the Tilford Cinema Corporation. Le Breton was among those considered for the role of Peter Pan
in Peter Pan
, which was adapted from the novel by Sir James Barrie. She chose not to play additional parts like the vamp character, Mrs. May Beamish, she performed in Another Scandal. She appeared in the melodrama
I Am The Man (1924) with Lionel Barrymore
. Her last screen credit came in the Columbia Pictures
comedy Charley's Aunt
(1930). Le Breton played the part of Ela Delahay.
Le Breton sent for her mother in England and placed her in a Beverly Hills, California
home after she became a star in the U.S..
Le Breton acted the part of a waif
who inherits the wealth of a long-lost grandfather, Lord Maxwell. The play was Lass o' Laughter. Her character necessitates that she enunciate a Glasgow
Scottish dialect. A reviewer praised her appearance, commenting Miss Le Breton's beauty is of the Dresden
doll type. In November 1925 she was featured in the Henry W. Savage
production, The Balcony Walker, which played the Lyric Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut
. By March 1926 she had given up her film career to appear in a New York City
revue
, The Optimists.
Le Breton was reviewed favourably for her role in the School For Husbands, which was produced by the Theatre Guild
in 1933. Osgood Perkins
and June Walker
were among those in the play.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
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 from Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England. She was blonde with dark blue eyes. In her own country she was called the English Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
.
Heritage
Her ancestry was EnglishEnglish people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
and Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
. Her Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
heritage was lengthy. She was related to Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll
Gillespie Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll was a Scottish nobleman and politician.-Biography:Archibald was the eldest son of Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll and Isabel Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 2nd Lord Lorn. He was made Master of the Royal Household of James IV of Scotland on 24...
. Her home was the ancestral Ware Park. It dated to the 15th century. Le Breton's mother was widowed and her brother was killed in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Her sister married a major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
and resided in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
Dramatic education
She trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic ArtRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Le Breton earned a scholarship there at the age of fifteen. Founded by Sir Herbert Tree, the academy grant was presented to her by Sir Squire Bancroft
Squire Bancroft
Sir Squire Bancroft , born Squire White Butterfield, was an English actor-manager. He and his wife Effie Bancroft are considered to have instigated a new form of drama known as 'drawing-room comedy' or 'cup and saucer drama', owing to the realism of their stage sets.-Early life and career:Bancroft...
and Sir John Hare
John Hare (actor)
Sir John Hare , born John Fairs, was an English actor and manager of the Garrick Theatre in London from 1889 to 1895.-Biography:Hare was born in Giggleswick in Yorkshire and was educated at Giggleswick school...
.
She secured the role of a London flower girl and played opposite Sir Gerald du Maurier
Gerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: Angela du Maurier , Daphne du Maurier and Jeanne...
for an entire year in the English capital. She was noticed by Andre Charlot, who envisioned her as an English soubrette
Soubrette
A soubrette is a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".-Theater:...
. He put Le Breton in several revues in which she sang and
performed a stiff-legged doll dance that became the highlight of the shows.
Film actress
Le Breton's motion picture career began in 1920 with a role as Alesia in La Poupee. In 1922 she co-starred with George K. Arthur and Simeon Stuart in Love's Influence, originally titled Love's April. The FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
boxer, Georges Carpentier
Georges Carpentier
Georges Carpentier was a French boxer. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908-26. Nicknamed the "Orchid Man", he stood and his fighting weight ranged from...
, made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the British silent film. Le Breton won many of the London film favourite contests along with actress Betty Balfour
Betty Balfour
Betty Balfour was an English screen actress, popular during the silent era, and known as the "British Mary Pickford" and "Britain's Queen of Happiness"...
. She appeared
in the first coloured motion picture made in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. The Glorious Adventure
The Glorious Adventure (1922 film)
The Glorious Adventure is a US/UK feature film directed by J. Stuart Blackton, written by Felix Orman.-Production background:The film was made entirely in Prizmacolor, and starred Lady Diana Manners, Gerald Lawrence, Cecil Humphreys, and Victor McLaglen, and was released by United Artists.Neither...
(1922) starred Lady Diana Cooper
Lady Diana Cooper
Lady Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich was an English socialite and actress.-Birth and youth:Born Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners, she was officially the youngest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland and his wife, the former Violet Lindsay, but Lady Diana's real father was widely supposed...
and Victor McLaglen
Victor McLaglen
Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen was an English boxer and World War I veteran who became a successful film actor.Towards the end of his life he was naturalised as a U.S. citizen.-Early life:...
. Produced by J. Stuart Blackton
J. Stuart Blackton
James Stuart Blackton , usually known as J. Stuart Blackton, was an Anglo-American film producer of the Silent Era, the founder of Vitagraph Studios and among the first filmmakers to use the techniques of stop-motion and drawn animation...
, founder of Vitagraph Studios
Vitagraph Studios
American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. By 1907 it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros...
, the motion picture was filmed in Prizma
Prizma
The Prizma Color system was a technique of color motion picture photography, invented in 1913 by William Van Doren Kelley and Charles Raleigh. Initially, it was a two-color additive color system, similar to its predecessor, Kinemacolor...
colour.
As a dancer Le Breton and her partner, Cecil Rubens, won the world's
amateur dancing championship in February 1923.
Le Breton arrived in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in January 1924. Among her early Hollywood films is Another Scandal (1924). She had the third
lead after Lois Wilson and Holmes Herbert. Filmed in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, the movie was a production of the Tilford Cinema Corporation. Le Breton was among those considered for the role of Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
in Peter Pan
Peter Pan (1924 film)
Peter Pan is a 1924 adventure silent film released by Paramount Pictures, the first film adaptation of the play by J. M. Barrie. It was directed by Herbert Brenon and starred Betty Bronson as Peter Pan, Ernest Torrence as Captain Hook, Mary Brian as Wendy, and Virginia Browne Faire as Tinker Bell...
, which was adapted from the novel by Sir James Barrie. She chose not to play additional parts like the vamp character, Mrs. May Beamish, she performed in Another Scandal. She appeared in the melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
I Am The Man (1924) with Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
. Her last screen credit came in the Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
comedy Charley's Aunt
Charley's Aunt
Charley's Aunt is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. It broke all historic records for plays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances....
(1930). Le Breton played the part of Ela Delahay.
Le Breton sent for her mother in England and placed her in a Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
home after she became a star in the U.S..
American stage
In her first year in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Le Breton acted the part of a waif
Waif
A waif is a living creature removed, by hardship, loss or other helpless circumstance, from his original surroundings...
who inherits the wealth of a long-lost grandfather, Lord Maxwell. The play was Lass o' Laughter. Her character necessitates that she enunciate a Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
Scottish dialect. A reviewer praised her appearance, commenting Miss Le Breton's beauty is of the Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
doll type. In November 1925 she was featured in the Henry W. Savage
production, The Balcony Walker, which played the Lyric Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
. By March 1926 she had given up her film career to appear in a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
, The Optimists.
Le Breton was reviewed favourably for her role in the School For Husbands, which was produced by the Theatre Guild
Theatre Guild
The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the Washington Square Players.Its original purpose was to...
in 1933. Osgood Perkins
Osgood Perkins
Osgood Perkins was an American actor.-Life and career:Perkins was born James Ripley Osgood Perkins in West Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Helen Virginia and Henry Phelps Perkins. He is a descendant of a Mayflower passenger John Howland. Perkins made his Broadway debut in 1924 in the George S...
and June Walker
June Walker
June Walker was an American stage and film actress. She appeared on Broadway in such plays as Green Grow the Lilacs, The Farmer Takes a Wife, and Twelfth Night...
were among those in the play.
Selected filmography
- CocaineCocaine (film)Cocaine is a 1922 British crime film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Hilda Bayley, Flora Le Breton, Ward McAllister and Cyril Raymond...
(1922) - The Glorious AdventureThe Glorious Adventure (1922 film)The Glorious Adventure is a US/UK feature film directed by J. Stuart Blackton, written by Felix Orman.-Production background:The film was made entirely in Prizmacolor, and starred Lady Diana Manners, Gerald Lawrence, Cecil Humphreys, and Victor McLaglen, and was released by United Artists.Neither...
(1922)