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Edna Foster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edna Foster
Born1900
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Other namesBilly Foster
OccupationActress
Years active1911–1915
SpouseFrank Schleip (1921-1927)
Children1
RelativesFlora Foster (sister)

Edna Foster was an American child actress who was active during the silent film era.

Biography

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Edna Foster was born in Boston in 1900 to Anne Louise Ramsell Foster and Conrad Houteling Foster. Conrad Foster was a theater owner and eventual mayor of Traverse City, Michigan.[1][2][3] He had been in the entertainment business since 1889 and assistant treasurer for Ringling Brothers circus for 14 years.[4]

Entertainment career

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Foster acted in films for the Biograph Company. She played both boys and girls in film.[5] She received critical attention for her work "as one of the best known boy impersonators" in film.[6] She was sometimes professionally known as "Billy Foster;" she selected the name herself.[7][1][8][9][10]

Edna Foster's older sister Flora Foster, also an actress, died of heart failure as a teenager.[9][1][6] Both sisters attended boarding school in New York near Biograph's studios while their father remained in Chicago.[11]

Foster's favorite stage actress was Blanche Sweet. She and her sister both enjoyed working with D.W. Griffith and Harry Carey. She enjoyed sewing, ragtime music, baseball, rugby, and dancing; her sister stated that Foster had aspirations for a career in ballet.[11] She was reportedly a protégé of Elizabeth Kingston of the Kingston Entertainers.[12] In 1922, she was working as assistant treasurer for Minksy's Burlesque.[13]

She had grey eyes. When she was fourteen, she had blonde hair she wore bobbed.[11] She was described as a "pretty, slender brunette" in a 1922 issue of The Billboard.[13]

Personal life

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Edna Foster married Frank Otto Schleip on March 8, 1921, but she separated from him and was living under her maiden name by 1925. She and Schleip divorced on January 6, 1927. Foster had a daughter, Anna, around the time of her divorce; she and her daughter were known by the surname Carella.[14]

According to her father's obituary, Edna Foster was living in New York City in 1940.[1][6][2]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Horak, Laura (2016-02-26). Girls Will Be Boys: Cross-Dressed Women, Lesbians, and American Cinema, 1908–1934. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813574844.
  2. ^ a b "Former Traverse City Mayor Dies". The Herald-Press. 3 Apr 1940. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  3. ^ "Who Was Con Foster?". Traverse City News & Events. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  4. ^ "Forum: Obituaries". Variety. Apr 17, 1940. 138, 6. Pg. 55. Via Proquest.
  5. ^ Horak, Laura (2010). "Edna "Billy" Foster, the Biograph Boy". In Soderbergh Widding, Astrid (ed.). Not So Silent: Women in Cinema Before Sound. Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. ISBN 978-91-86071-40-0.
  6. ^ a b c In Answer to Yours. The Photo-Play Review. 1915.
  7. ^ "Theatricals". The Wilmington Morning Star. 16 Aug 1916. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  8. ^ Keil, Charles (2018-02-05). A Companion to D. W. Griffith. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118341254.
  9. ^ a b "In Movie Land". The Chicago Tribune. 18 Oct 1914. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  10. ^ Films in Review. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. 1975.
  11. ^ a b c "Biograph Kids Are Wonderful Girls: Chicago Exhibitor's Daughters". Motography: 3–4. July 4, 1914.
  12. ^ "Where is Edna Foster?" The Billboard. Apr 3, 1920. 32, 14. pg. 22. Via Proquest.
  13. ^ a b "Burlesque Reviews" Minksy's Burlesque". The Billboard. Nov 11, 1922. 34, 45. Pg. 34. Via Proquest.
  14. ^ Horak, Laura (2023). "Edna "Billy" Foster". Cinema's First Nasty Women (PDF). Kino Lorber.
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