Mabel Lilian Poulton (13 April 1901 – 21 December 1994) was an English film actress, popular in Britain during the era of

silent films 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 ...

Career

Born in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, Poulton worked as a stenographer and entered films by chance. Her first role in George Pearson's ''

Nothing Else Matters "Nothing Else Matters" is a power ballad by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released in 1992 as the third single from their self-titled fifth studio album, ''Metallica''. The song peaked at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Album Ro ...

'' (1920) was opposite

Betty Balfour Betty Balfour (born Florence Lilian Woods; 27 March 1902 – 4 November 1977) was an English screen actress, popular during the silent era, and known as the "British Mary Pickford" and "Britain's Queen of Happiness". She was best known to aud ...

, who was also making her debut, and the film was a success. Over the next several years, Poulton was cast in a succession of roles, and usually played feisty or mischievous characters. A petite blonde, she also became well regarded for her

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

style, and was a highly recognisable celebrity. In 1928, she starred in '' The Constant Nymph'' by

Adrian Brunel Adrian Brunel (4 September 1892 – 18 February 1958) was an English film director and screenwriter. Brunel's directorial career started in the Silent film, silent era, and reached its peak in the latter half of the 1920s. His surviving work fr ...

and received excellent reviews for her performance. By the end of the decade, she was considered to be one of Britain's leading screen actresses along with Balfour, and was described by critics as Balfour's only serious rival. The advent of

sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

brought a premature end to Poulton's film career. The addition of the

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

revealed Poulton's broad

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

accent, which was at odds with the characters she had become identified with. Like

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

who faced the same problem as a result of her

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

accent, Poulton struggled to maintain her status. Also, like Bow, she attempted to mount a comeback in the mid-1930s, which was well publicised but unsuccessful. She made her final film appearance in 1938.

Later years and death

She spent her last years writing and re-writing a typescript about a young British starlet who is raped by a film director and who then descends into alcoholism. In biro, at some point of the writing process, she wrote in real names.

Thomas Bentley Thomas Bentley may refer to: * Thomas Bentley (director) Thomas Bentley (23 February 1884 – 23 December 1966) was a British film director. He directed 68 films between 1912 and 1941. He directed three films in the early DeForest Phonofilm sou ...

is the director whom she accused. They had worked together on two films: ''

The Old Curiosity Shop ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' is the fourth novel by English author Charles Dickens; being one of his two novels (the other being ''Barnaby Rudge'') published along with short stories in his weekly serial ''Master Humphrey's Clock'', from 1840 t ...

'' (1921) and ''

Not Quite a Lady ''Not Quite a Lady'' is a 1928 British silent comedy film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Mabel Poulton, Janet Alexander and Barbara Gott. The screenplay concerns a wealthy woman who, unhappy with her son's choice of fiancée, holds a ...

'' (1928). Poulton died in 1994 in Merton, Surrey, aged 93.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1920) * '' The God in the Garden'' (1921) * '' Mary-Find-the-Gold'' (1921) * ''

'' (1921) * '' Moonbeam Magic'' (1924) * ''

Heart of an Actress ''Heart of an Actress'' (French: ''Âme d'artiste'') is a 1924 French silent drama film directed by Germaine Dulac and starring Iván Petrovich, Nicolas Koline and Mabel Poulton. Poulton had almost been cast in Abel Gance's ''Napoleon'', but a ...

'' (1924) * '' The Ball of Fortune'' (1926) * '' The Glad Eye'' (1927) * '' Virginia's Husband'' (1928) * ''

The Hellcat ''The Hellcat'' is a 1928 British silent romance film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Mabel Poulton, Eric Bransby Williams and John F. Hamilton. It was based on the play ''Wilcat Hetty'' by Florence Kilpatrick and made at the Nettlefol ...

'' (1928) * '' The Constant Nymph'' (1928) * ''

'' (1928) * '' Palais de danse'' (1928) * ''

Troublesome Wives ''Troublesome Wives'' is a 1928 British silent comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Eric Bransby Williams, Mabel Poulton and Lilian Oldland. It was based on the play ''Summer Lightning'' by Ernest Denny. The screenplay concerns ...

'' (1928) * '' A Daughter in Revolt'' (1928) * '' The Silent House'' (1929) * ''

The Return of the Rat ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1929) * '' Taxi for Two'' (1929) * '' The Alley Cat'' (1929) * ''

Escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Escape'' (1928 film), a German silent drama film * ''Escape!'' (film), a 1930 British crime film starring Austin Trevor and Edna Best * ''Escape'' (1940 film), starring Robert Taylor and ...

'' (1930) * '' Children of Chance'' (1930) * ''

Number, Please Number, Please may refer to: * '' Number, Please (film)'', a 1931 British crime film * '' Number, Please? (film)'', a 1920 American short comedy film * '' Number Please (game show)'', a 1960s American game show See also * '' Your Number Please ...

'' (1931) * '' Crown v. Stevens'' (1936) * '' Terror on Tiptoe'' (1936) * ''

Bed and Breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

'' (1938)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poulton, Mabel 1901 births 1994 deaths English film actresses English silent film actresses Actresses from London 20th-century English actresses Actors from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Bethnal Green