Stella Adams (April 24, 1883 – September 17, 1961) was an American actress of the silent and early

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 ...

eras. Her forte was in

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

Early years

Adams was born in Sherman, Texas.

Career

Although Adams appeared in only 12 feature films, she acted in almost 150 shorts during the silent era, mostly in starring or featured roles. Her first acting credit was one of those feature films, 1909's '' In the Sultan's Power'',A 1934 newspaper article gives the film's name as ''Power of the Sultan''. in which she had a starring role. The film was remarkable because it was the first film shot entirely on the west coast of the United States. At this point in the film industry, most films were still shot in New Jersey and New York. Adams joined the

Nestor Film Company The Nestor Film Company, originally known as the Nestor Motion Picture Company, was an American motion picture production company. It was founded in 1909 as the West Coast production unit of the Centaur Film Company located in Bayonne, New Jersey ...

in 1912 and moved to California when the company relocated there. Her early work was in comedies, but she also started working in Westerns. She left Nestor with director

Al Christie Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs. Early life Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, ...

when he began his own studio. In 1917, an article in the trade publication ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' reported that Adams left California "to join her husband in Chicago, and will next year return to the elegitimate stage." Twenty years passed before Adams made another feature film, when she appeared in a featured role in the silent/sound film, ''

Me, Gangster ''Me, Gangster'' is a 1928 American synchronized sound gangster film directed by Raoul Walsh. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film movietone process. ...

'', directed by

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent cinema actor George Walsh. He wa ...

. Over the next eight years, Adams made another ten films, although in smaller and smaller roles, retiring in 1936.

Personal life

Adams was married to

press agent In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The subj ...

James Whittendale.

Death

Adams died in Woodland Hills, California, on September 17, 1961, and was interred in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Selected filmography (shorts & featured films)

(Per

AFI AFI may refer to: * Actual flip-angle imaging, a type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2017 album), the tenth ...

database) * '' In the Sultan's Power'' (1909) * '' Could You Blame Her'' (1914) * ''

When Bess Got in Wrong ''When Bess Got in Wrong'' is a 1914 Canadian comedy short silent black and white film directed by Al Christie and starring Lee Moran, and Stella Adams. It is written by Bess Meredyth. Cast * Bess Meredyth as Bess * Lee Moran Lee Moran ( ...

'' (1914) as Stella * '' His Nobs the Duke'' (1915) * '' Wanted: A Leading Lady'' (1915) * '' Where the Heather Blooms'' (1915) * ''

Love and a Savage Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

'' (1915) * '' Mingling Spirits'' (1916) * ''

'' (1928) * '' Sister to Judas'' (1932) * ''

Temptation's Workshop ''Temptation's Workshop'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by George B. Seitz and starring Helen Foster, Tyrell Davis and Dorothy Granger. It was released by the independent Poverty Row studio Mayfair Pictures.Pitts p.244 Plot ...

'' (1932) * '' The Vampire Bat'' (1933) * ''

Bachelor Mother ''Bachelor Mother'' (1939) is an American romantic comedy film directed by Garson Kanin, and starring Ginger Rogers, David Niven, and Charles Coburn. The screenplay was written by Norman Krasna from an Academy Award-nominated story by Felix ...

'' (1933) * '' Sing Sinner Sing'' (1933) * '' The Whirlwind'' (1933) * '' Whom the Gods Destroy'' (1934) * '' The Tonto Kid'' (1935) * ''

The King Steps Out ''The King Steps Out'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Grace Moore, Franchot Tone and Walter Connolly. It is based on the early years of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as "Sisi" or "Sissi ...

'' (1936) * ''

Theodora Goes Wild ''Theodora Goes Wild'' is a 1936 American screwball comedy film that tells the story of the residents in a small town who are incensed by a risqué novel, unaware that the book was written under a pseudonym by a member of the town's leading fami ...

'' (1936)

Notes

References

External links

* * 1883 births 1961 deaths People from Sherman, Texas Actresses from Texas American silent film actresses American film actresses 20th-century American actresses Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles) {{US-film-actor-1880s-stub