Blanche Payson (born Mary Elizabeth Bush, September 20, 1881 – July 4, 1964) was an American film actress.

Biography

Payson was born in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, as Mary Elizabeth Bush to Thomas and Sarah Bush. She first attracted public notice when she served as policewoman in the Toyland exhibit at the Panama Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. She also performed in vaudeville. In 1910 she was living in San Francisco and married to Eugene Payson, who died before 1915. Payson then moved to Los Angeles and began her film career with the Mack Sennett studio, with her first film being ''Wife and Auto Trouble''. She appeared in short films in mostly uncredited roles. She appeared in nearly 160 films between 1916 and 1946. At , she towered over both men and women co-stars in the many slapstick comedies she appeared, as a foil for such comedians as

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

and similar popular acts of the time. She often played brutal and dominant women, such as

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his ...

's wife in '' Helpmates'' (1932) or

Bobby Hutchins Robert E. Hutchins (March 29, 1925 – May 17, 1945) was an American child actor who was a regular in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1927 to 1933. A native of Tacoma, Washington, he was given the nickname of Wheezer after running ar ...

' stepmother in the

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

comedy ''

Dogs Is Dogs ''Dogs Is Dogs'' is a 1931 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 110th ''Our Gang'' short to be released. Plot Youngsters Wheezer and Dorothy live with their wicked stepmother (Blanche Payson) and her bratt ...

'' (1931). By 1927, Payson was married to Allen Love. She died in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

Partial filmography

* '' Wife and Auto Trouble'' (1916) * '' A La Cabaret'' (1916) * '' A Social Cub'' (1916) * '' The Sultan's Wife'' (1917) * '' Bears and Bad Men'' (1918) * ''

The Land of Jazz ''The Land of Jazz'' is a 1920 American silent comedy film produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation. Directed by Jules Furthman and written by Barbara La Marr, it starred Eileen Percy and Ruth Stonehouse. Plot Cast * Eileen Percy as ...

'' (1920) * ''

Three Ages ''Three Ages'' is a 1923 Black and white, black-and-white American feature-length silent comedy film starring comedian Buster Keaton and Wallace Beery. The first feature Keaton wrote, directed, produced, and starred in (unlike ''The Saphead,'' ...

'' (1923) * ''

Charley's Aunt ''Charley's Aunt'' is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. The story centres on Lord Fancourt Babberley, an undergraduate whose friends Jack and Charley persuade him to impersonate the latter's aunt. The complications of the plot in ...

'' (1925) * '' Oh Doctor!'' (1925) * '' Half a Man'' (1925) * ''

We Moderns ''We Moderns'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by John Francis Dillon and starring Colleen Moore. The film was produced by Moore's husband John McCormick and was released through First National Pictures. It was based on the play ...

'' (1925) * ''

La Bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'' (1926) * '' For Heaven's Sake'' (1926) * ''

Peaceful Oscar ''Peaceful Oscar'' is a 1927 American comedy film directed by Fatty Arbuckle. Cast * Lloyd Hamilton * Toy Gallagher * Henry Murdoch * Blanche Payson * Billy Hampton See also * Fatty Arbuckle filmography __NOTOC__ These are the films o ...

'' (1927) * ''

Should Men Walk Home? ''Should Men Walk Home?'' is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Leo McCarey, starring Mabel Normand and featuring Creighton Hale, Eugene Pallette, and Oliver Hardy. Cast * Mabel Normand as The Girl Bandit * Creighton Hale ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Bachelor's Baby ''The Bachelor's Baby'' is a 1927 silent film comedy directed by Frank R. Strayer and produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures. An extant film in European archive. Cast * Helene Chadwick - Eleanor Carter * Harry Myers - Bill Taylor *Midget ...

'' (1927) * ''

Figures Don't Lie ''Figures Don't Lie'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and written by Ethel Doherty and Louise Long from an adaptation by Grover Jones of a story by B. F. Zeidman, with intertitles by Herman J. Mankiew ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Broadway Melody ''The Broadway Melody'', also known as ''The Broadway Melody of 1929'', is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the early musicals to feature a Technicolor sequen ...

'' (1929) * '' Below Zero'' (1930) * '' Our Wife'' (1931) * ''

'' (1931) * ''

I Surrender Dear "I Surrender Dear" (sometimes written as "I Surrender, Dear") is a song composed by Harry Barris with lyrics by Gordon Clifford (lyricist), Gordon Clifford, first performed by Gus Arnheim, Gus Arnheim and His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra with Bing C ...

'' (1931) * '' Helpmates'' (1932) * ''

The Impatient Maiden ''The Impatient Maiden'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by James Whale, starring Lew Ayres and Mae Clarke, and released by Universal Pictures. The screenplay was written by Richard Schayer and Winifred Dunn, based on the nove ...

'' (1932) * '' Drifting Souls'' (1932) * '' Impatient Maiden'' (1932) * '' Among the Missing'' (1934) * ''

Hoi Polloi The English expression the hoi polloi (; ; ) was borrowed from Ancient Greek, where it means "the many" or, in the strictest sense, "the people". In English, it has been given a negative connotation to signify the common people. ''We first hear ...

'' (1935) * '' Dizzy Doctors'' (1937) * '' All Over Town'' (1937) * '' Slander House'' (1938) * '' Cookoo Cavaliers'' (1940) * ''

An Ache in Every Stake ''An Ache in Every Stake'' is a 1941 short subject directed by Del Lord starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 57th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starri ...

'' (1941) * '' Blondie for Victory'' (1942) * '' Ghosts on the Loose'' (1943)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Payson, Blanche 1881 births 1964 deaths American film actresses Actresses from Santa Barbara, California Actors from Santa Barbara, California Hal Roach Studios actors 20th-century American actresses American vaudeville performers