Ann Brody Goldstein
(August 29, 1884 – July 16, 1944), known professionally as Ann Brody, was an American film actress of the
silent era
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
. Brody was known as a pioneer film actress.
Career
Brody started acting on stage when she was nine years old in a children's theatre in New York. She later toured throughout the United States as part of stock companies. Her first film role was in a 1912
Vitagraph
Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...
film, and she later became a part of the studio. People that she worked with included
Norma Talmadge
Norma Marie Talmadge (May 2, 1894 – December 24, 1957) was an American actress and film producer of the silent film, silent era. A major box-office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among ...
,
Wally Van
Wally Van (born Charles Wallace Van Nostrand; September 27, 1880 – May 9, 1974) was an American actor and film director of the silent era.
Early years
Van was born Charles Wallace Van Nostrand on September 27, 1880, in New Hyde Park, New ...
,
Hughie Mack
Hughie Mack (November 26, 1884 – October 13, 1927) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1910 and 1928.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was working as a mortician when he paid a casual ...
, and
Flora Finch
Flora Finch (17 June 1867 – 4 January 1940) was an English-born vaudevillian, stage and film actress who starred in over 300 silent films, including over 200 for the Vitagraph Studios film company. The vast majority of her films from the sile ...
. She acted in Hollywood film productions in the 1920s.
''
The Tennessean
''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, w ...
'' said in 1926 that Brody was most interested in "comedy with a tear" roles and that the film ''
Too Much Money'' gives her "a splendid opportunity to prove that she is best-fitted for the roles that combine comedy with pathos". The ''
San Francisco Examiner
The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863.
Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...
'' wrote in 1929 that Brody has one of her best roles in the film ''My Man''. During the mid-1930s, Brody moved back to New York to perform in Broadway plays. Brody was known for her film roles as Jewish mothers.
Brody's 50th year as a stage actress was celebrated in 1937. Her last stage role was in the 1940 play ''
The Time of Your Life
''The Time of Your Life'' is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened on Broadway in 1939.
C ...
''. She was known as a pioneer film actress.
The ''Pasadena Post'' said in 1929 that Brody is "a specialist in
character roles
A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, ...
for films". The ''Los Angeles Evening Post-Record'' in 1933 said, "Ann Brody, whose Jewish maternal characterizations are stage and screen classics, is returning to the footlights once more".
Personal life
Brody was born in Poland on August 29, 1884.
She died in a New York City hotel room on July 16, 1944, from what appeared to be natural causes.
Partial filmography
* ''
The Suspect'' (1916)
* ''
The Princess of Park Row'' (1917)
* ''
The Perfect Lover
''The Perfect Lover'' is a lost 1919 American silent drama film directed by Ralph Ince and starring Eugene O'Brien. It was produced and distributed by Selznick Pictures Corporation.Headin' Home
''Headin' Home'' is a 1920 American silent film, silent biopic sports film directed by Lawrence C. Windom. It attempts to create a mythology surrounding the life of baseball player Babe Ruth.
The screenplay was written by Arthur "Bugs" Baer f ...
'' (1920)
* ''
Lost in a Big City
''Lost in a Big City'' is a 1923 American silent film, silent drama film directed by George Irving (American actor), George Irving and starring John Lowell (actor), John Lowell, Charles Byer and Jane Thomas (actress), Jane Thomas.Munden p.452
Ca ...
'' (1923)
* ''
A Sainted Devil'' (1924)
* ''
Soul-Fire
''Soul-Fire'' (also known as ''Soul Fire'') is a 1925 American silent film, silent drama film starring Richard Barthelmess and Bessie Love. It was directed by John S. Robertson and was based on the Broadway production ''Great Music'' (1924) by ...
'' (1925)
* ''
Red Love'' (1925)
* ''
The Manicure Girl
''The Manicure Girl'' is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy drama film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bebe Daniels.
Plot
As described in a film magazine review, a poor young manicurist becomes engaged to a poor young man who has sav ...
'' (1925)
* ''
Too Much Money'' (1926)
* ''
Why Girls Say No'' (1927)
* ''
Jake the Plumber
''Jake the Plumber'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Jesse De Vorska, Sharon Lynn and Rosa Rosanova.Munden p.391
Synopsis
The film follows the adventures of Jake, a Jewish apprentice to the Irish plu ...
'' (1927)
* ''
Alias the Lone Wolf'' (1927)
* ''
Heroes in Blue'' (1927)
* ''
Turn Back the Hours'' (1928)
* ''
My Man'' (1928)
* ''
The Case of Lena Smith'' (1929)
* ''
Betrayal
Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Of ...
'' (1929)
* ''
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
'' (1929)
* ''
So This Is College
''So This Is College'' is a 1929 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Sam Wood, written by Al Boasberg, Delmer Daves and Joseph Farnham, and starring Elliott Nugent, Robert Montgomery in his film debut, Cliff Edwards, Sally Starr and Ph ...
'' (1929)
* ''
Playing Around
''Playing Around'' is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film with songs, starring Alice White, Chester Morris and William Bakewell. It was adapted from the story "Sheba", written by Viña Delmar. The film was produced and distributed by First Na ...
'' (1930)
* ''
A Royal Romance'' (1930)
* ''
The Drums of Jeopardy'' (1931)
* ''
The Drifter'' (1932)
* ''
The Heart of New York'' (1932)
* ''
High Gear
High may refer to:
Science and technology
* Height
* High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area
* High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory
* High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...
'' (1933)
* ''
The Sin of Nora Moran
''The Sin of Nora Moran'' is a 1933 American pre-Code melodrama and proto-noir film directed by Phil Goldstone. It is based on the short story "Burnt Offering" by W. Maxwell Goodhue. The film is also known as ''Voice from the Grave'' (American re ...
'' (1933)
* ''
Ellis Island
Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...
'' (1936)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brody, Ann
1884 births
1944 deaths
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
Polish emigrants to the United States
20th-century American actresses