Occupation Actress Years active 1911 – 1930s | Name Cleo Ridgely Role Film star | |
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Full Name Freda Cleo Helwig Born May 12, 1893 ( 1893-05-12 ) New York, New York, U.S. Died August 18, 1962, Glendale, California, United States Movies The Golden Chance, The Chorus Lady, The Love Mask Spouse James W. Horne (m. 1916–1942), Richard Ridgely (m. ?–1916) Children James Horne Jr., June Horne Parents Catherine Emily Sommerkamp, August Helwig Similar People James W Horne, Jesse L Lasky, Victoria Horne, George Melford, Jackie Cooper | ||
Cleo Ridgely-Horne (May 12, 1894 – August 18, 1962) was a star of silent and sound motion pictures, whose career began early in the silent film era, in 1911. Her acting career continued for forty years. She retired in the 1930s but returned to make more movies. Her final film was Hollywood Story (1951), in which she had a bit part. She was a native of New York, New York.
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Early life
Cleo was born Freda Cleo Helwig in New York City. She was the daughter of August Helwig and Catherine Emily Sommerkamp. She had two sisters, Christina and Martha.
A Star of the Silent Screen
Cleo starred with Ruth Roland in a girl detective series in the 1920s and co-starred in a number of films with Wallace Reid and Lew Cody. She was married to James W. Horne, who directed the Laurel and Hardy comedies for many years. Horne died in 1942. She was divorced from her first husband, Jaudon M. Ridgely, in the Los Angeles, California courts in December 1916.
Cleo worked with Famous Players-Lasky Film Company and also for Paramount Pictures. She was selected queen of the Auburn exhibit at the downtown automobile show in Los Angeles, California in October 1915. A publicity photo posed the actress with a 1916 Auburn Six. It was made by the Auburn Automobile Company and appeared at the show.
Equestrian
Cleo was an accomplished horse woman. In 1912, accompanied with her first husband, she rode across the country on horseback from New York to San Francisco. Making numerous promotional stops along the way, the trip lasted 18 months. In one of her Lasky features she stopped a run-away four-in-hand, risking her life, while on top of a stage coach. Ridgely lived her later years in Glendale, California. She died in 1962 at her home at the age of 68. She was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
In 2016, Cleo Ridgely was honored with a Letter of Commendation by the City of Glendale, California.