Barbara Tennant (19 May 1892 – 18 March 1982) was an English actress. She appeared in over a hundred silent films between 1912 and 1928.

Early life

Barbara Tennant was born in London, and began performing there. She moved to North America as a young actress and dancer with the

Ben Greet Sir Philip Barling Greet (24 September 1857 – 17 May 1936), known professionally as Ben Greet, was a Shakespearean actor, director, impresario and actor-manager. Early life The younger son of Captain William Greet RN and his wife, Sarah Ba ...

company, and lived in Montreal while touring in various theatrical productions.

Film career

Tennant appeared in over a hundred silent films, many of them short productions, between 1912 and 1928. Her first film was ''Chamber of Forgetfulness'' (1912), and her last film credit was in ''A Jim Jam Janitor'' (1928). Other notable appearances were as

Maid Marian Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circums ...

in an adaptation of ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is de ...

'' (1912) with Alec B. Francis and George Larkin; in ''Into the Wilderness'' (1914) and ''The Price of Malice'' (1916), both directed by

Oscar A. C. Lund Oscar Augustus Constantine Lund (May 21, 1885 – May 2, 1963) was a Swedish-born silent film actor, screenwriter and director of the American and Swedish motion picture industry. Biography Oscar A. C. Lund was born May 21, 1885 in Gothenburg ...

; as the title character in ''M'Liss'' (1915), based on a story by

Bret Harte Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a care ...

; '' The Better Wife'' (1919), starring

Clara Kimball Young Clara Kimball Young (born Edith Matilda Clara Kimball; September 6, 1890 – October 15, 1960) was an American film actress who was popular in the early silent film era. Early life Edith Matilda Clara Kimball was born in Chicago on Septemb ...

; in ''Captain January'' (1924), starring Baby Peggy; and in ''

The Devil Dancer ''The Devil Dancer'' is a 1927 American silent romantic drama film directed by Fred Niblo and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. For his work on this film, ''The Magic Flame'' and ''Sadie Thompson'', cinematographer George Barnes was nominated for th ...

'' (1927), featuring

Anna May Wong Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese-American actress to gain interna ...

. Tennant worked at

Eclair Studios Eclair, formerly Laboratoires Eclair, was a film production, film laboratory, and movie camera manufacturing company established in Épinay-sur-Seine, France by Charles Jourjon in 1907. What remains of the business is a unit of Ymagis Group off ...

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, ...

, between 1911 and 1915. By 1919, she was based in Los Angeles, working with producer Jesse Hampton. She was ill for a few years, effectively ending her career momentum, though she made a comeback in 1922, and she appeared in films as late as 1931. "I love it all so," she explained. "I can't leave it."

Films in the news

Tennant was in one of the first films rejected by the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

in 1913, when she starred as the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

in ''The Crimson Cross'', apparently violating rules about the depiction of religious figures. In 2011, the Russian government presented ten American silent films, previously considered lost, to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

. One of those films, ''

Circus Days ''Circus Days'' is a 1923 American silent comedy film starring child actor Jackie Coogan, directed by Eddie Cline, produced by Sol Lesser and Jackie Coogan's own production company, and distributed through Associated First National Pictures. ...

'' (1923), starred Tennant and

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Charlie Chaplin's film classic '' The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in t ...

Partial filmography

* ''

'' (1912) * '' Lady Babbie'' (1913) * '' The Closed Road'' (1916) * '' What Every Woman Wants'' (1919) * '' The Better Wife'' (1919) * ''

Shadows of Conscience ''Shadows of Conscience'' is a 1921 American silent Western film directed by John P. McCarthy and starring Russell Simpson, Barbara Tennant and Gertrude Olmstead.Connelly, p. 250. Cast * Russell Simpson as Jim Logan * Landers Stevens as Wa ...

'' (1921) * '' What Love Will Do'' (1921) * '' Wolves of the North'' (1921) * '' The Golden Gallows'' (1922) * '' The Infidel'' (1922) * '' The Masquerader'' (1922) * '' Bulldog Courage'' (1922) * '' The Love Gambler'' (1922) * ''

Thelma Thelma is a female given name. It was popularized by Victorian writer Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel '' Thelma''. It may be related to a Greek word meaning "will, volition" see '' thelema''). Note that al ...

'' (1922) * '' Deserted at the Altar'' (1922) * '' The Drug Traffic'' (1923) * ''

'' (1923) * '' The Old Fool'' (1923) * '' Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo'' (1924) * '' Captain January'' (1924) * ''

The House of Youth ''The House of Youth'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Ralph Ince and starring Jacqueline Logan, Malcolm McGregor and Gloria Grey.Munden p.366 Cast * Jacqueline Logan as Corinna Endicott * Malcolm McGregor as Spike Blaine * Ve ...

'' (1924) * '' The Street of Tears'' (1924) * '' You Can't Get Away with It'' (1924) * '' Daddy's Gone A-Hunting'' (1925) * ''

Borrowed Finery ''Borrowed Finery'' is a 1925 American silent drama film produced and released by Tiffany Pictures, and based on a story by George Bronson Howard. Veteran director and performer Oscar Apfel directed a cast that includes Louise Lorraine, Hedda H ...

'' (1925) * '' Hearts and Spangles'' (1926) * '' Her Sacrifice'' (1926) * '' The Wreck'' (1927) * ''

Your Wife and Mine ''Your Wife and Mine'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Frank O'Connor and starring Phyllis Haver, Stuart Holmes and Wallace MacDonald.Katchmer p.533 Cast * Phyllis Haver as Phyllis Warren * Stuart Holmes as Charlie Martin * ...

'' (1927) * '' Hidden Aces'' (1927) * '' The Clown'' (1927) * ''

'' (1927) * '' Possessed'' (1931)

References

External links

* * * A clip from Mack Sennett's ''The Divorce Dodger'' (1926), featuring Barbara Tennant, at Internet Archive. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tennant, Barbara 1892 births 1982 deaths English film actresses English silent film actresses 20th-century English actresses