Eugenia M. Clinchard (July 5, 1904 – May 15, 1989) was an American child actress of the

silent film A silent film is a film with no 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, w ...

era of the early 20th century. She appeared in numerous films by

Essanay Studios The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushma ...

, including eleven Western films starring

Broncho Billy Anderson Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson (born Maxwell Henry Aronson; March 21, 1880 – January 20, 1971) was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who was the first star of the Western film genre. He was a founder and star ...

. She was the mother of radio host

Wally George Wally George (born George Walter Pearch; December 4, 1931 – October 5, 2003) was an American conservative radio and television commentator. Calling himself the "Father of Combat TV," he was a fixture on Southern California television for ...

, whose daughter is actress

Rebecca De Mornay Rebecca De Mornay (born Rebecca Jane Pearch; August 29, 1959) is an American actress and producer. Her breakthrough film role came in 1983, when she starred as Lana in '' Risky Business''. She is known for her role as Debby Huston in the Neil ...

Early life

Clinchard was the daughter of Frederick Balbach Clinchard and his wife Elsie B. (née Honnef), and was born on July 5, 1904 in

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. ...

, where the family was living in 1910. Clinchard was raised in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

. She had one brother named Frederick "Fred" Clinchard. Her father was originally from the

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

area. In her late teens, she met and married a shipping company owner, Walter G Pearch. With him, she gave birth to a son, George Walter Pearch, also known as

, the "Father of Combat TV." She was the grandmother of actress

and musician

Lizzie Grey Stephen M. Perry (August 13, 1958 – August 5, 2019), who used the stage name Lizzie Grey, was an American musician. He is perhaps best known for his membership as a guitarist in the heavy metal band London and for co-writing the Mötley Cr� ...

. In her later years, she lived in

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density th ...

Career

Clinchard began acting at age 3, and by age 5 she was working the

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

circuit throughout the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

. Around this time, she caught the eye of

, credited with starting the western genre of film in Hollywood, and she joined his

. Clinchard went on to play a part in eleven Broncho Billy

silent films A silent film is a film with no 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, when ...

, including ''Broncho Billy and the Sheriff's Kid'' and ''A Child of the West''.

Death

Clinchard died in

Panorama City, Los Angeles Panorama City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. It has a generally young age range as well as the highest population density in the Valley. Ethnically, more than half of its population was born ...

, California on May 15, 1989.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clinchard, Eugenia 1904 births 1989 deaths American child actresses American film actresses American silent film actresses Vaudeville performers Actresses from Oakland, California 20th-century American actresses People from Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles