Laura Anson McCullough (January 2, 1892 – July 15, 1968), born Lura Lillian Kuhlman, was an American actress in silent films, mostly Westerns and crime dramas.

Early life and education

Lura Kuhlman was born in

Nebraska City, Nebraska Nebraska City is a city in and the county seat of Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 7,222. The Nebraska State Legislature has credited Nebraska City as being the oldest incorporated city in th ...

, the daughter of Adolph J. Kuhlman and Barbara Alleman Kuhlman. Her father was a businessman. Both of her parents moved to Los Angeles in 1920; they both died, at her residence, in 1923 and 1924.

Career

Anson was a stage actress as a young woman. She moved to Los Angeles by 1920, and appeared in about a dozen silent films between 1920 and 1923, mostly Westerns and crime dramas. Her co-stars included

Roscoe Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel ...

Lila Lee Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. Early life The daughter of Augusta Fredericka App ...

Thomas Meighan Thomas Meighan (April 9, 1879 – July 8, 1936) was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he made ...

Pauline Starke Pauline Starke (January 10, 1901Some sources say she was born in 1900. – February 3, 1977) was an American silent-film actress. Early years Pauline Starke was born on January 10, 1901, in Joplin, Missouri, the daughter of George W. Starke a ...

Richard Dix Richard Dix (born Ernst Carlton Brimmer; July 18, 1893 – September 20, 1949) was an American motion picture actor who achieved popularity in both silent film, silent and sound film. His standard on-screen image was that of the rugged and sta ...

, and

Buck Jones Buck Jones (born Charles Frederick Gebhart; December 12, 1891 – November 30, 1942) was an American actor, known for his work in many popular Western movies. In his early film appearances, he was credited as Charles Jones. Early life, milit ...

. She worked with

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

, Tom Forman,

Charles Maigne Charles Maigne (November 11, 1879 – November 28, 1929) was an American screenwriter and film director of the silent film, silent era. He wrote for 32 films between 1916 and 1928. He also directed 18 films between 1918 and 1923. He was bor ...

, and Scott R. Dunlap, among other directors and producers. Anson's style was a matter of press interest. In 1920 she experimented with using henna coloring instead of hosiery (so that her legs and feet were, except for the henna and some sandals, bare). "Why, I just got tired of paying out a lot of money for silk stockings," she explained, "and finally solved a way to cut them out." In 1921, her ostrich feather-trimmed lingerie made the news.

Films

* ''

Sweet Lavender ''Sweet Lavender'' is a play in three acts by Arthur Wing Pinero, first performed in 1888. The sentimental and gently humorous story concerns the romance of Lavender Rolt and Clement Hale, and the complications impeding the course of true love. ...

'' (1920) *'' The Easy Road'' (1921) *'' The Little Clown'' (1921) *''

The Affairs of Anatol ''The Affairs of Anatol'' is a 1921 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson. The film is based on the 1893 play '' Anatol'' by Arthur Schnitzler. It was adapted by Jeanie ...

'' (1921) *'' Crazy to Marry'' (1921) *''Bluebeard, Jr.'' (1922) *'' The Great Alone'' (1922) *'' If You Believe It, It's So'' (1922) *''

Flames of Passion ''Flames of Passion'' is a 1922 British silent film drama directed by Graham Cutts, starred Mae Marsh and C. Aubrey Smith. The film was made by the newly formed Graham-Wilcox Productions company, a joint venture between Cutts and producer Her ...

'' (1923) *'' Skid Proof'' (1923) *'' The Silent Partner'' (1923) *'' The Call of the Canyon'' (1923) *''The Way of the Transgressor'' (1923)

Personal life

Kuhlman married three times. Her first husband was Roy J. Anderson; they married in Iowa in 1910, and soon divorced. Her second husband was dentist John Franklin Anson; they married in Nebraska in 1913 in Nebraska, and she used his surname professionally after they divorced in 1921. She married fellow actor

Philo McCullough Philo McCullough (June 16, 1893 – June 5, 1981) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1914 and 1969. He was born in San Bernardino, California, and died in Burbank, California. McCullough's film debut came in 1912 ...

in 1939, in Arizona. She was also named as party in the 1921–1922 divorce of director

Jacques Jaccard Jacques Jaccard (September 11, 1886 – July 24, 1960) was an American film director, writer and actor whose achievements in cinema were mostly in silent film. He directed 86 films and wrote scripts for 80. The best-known of his films as a dir ...

and actress Helen Leslie. She died in 1968, at the age of 76, in

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

. Her grave is in

Forest Lawn Memorial Park Forest Lawn may refer to: Cemeteries California * Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries, a chain of cemeteries in southern California * Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City), California * Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), California * Fore ...

in the Hollywood Hills.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anson, Laura 1892 births 1968 deaths American silent film actresses 20th-century American actresses People from Nebraska City, Nebraska