Olmstead was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was noticed after winning a contest to represent "The Spirit of America" at the 1920 Elks Club national convention. She appeared in her first credited film role in the 1921 film The Fox. She obtained several more roles that same year, appearing in nine films in 1921, and another five in 1922. She would appear in seventeen more films by the time she received what is today her best-known role, opposite Rudolph Valentino in the 1925 film Cobra.
Throughout the silent film era her career thrived. From 1925 through 1929 she appeared in twenty eight films, most often portraying the heroine. With the advent of sound film her career stalled, and she retired from acting in 1929.
Personal life and death
In 1926 she met MGM director Robert Z. Leonard and they were married June 8 of that year. Leonard and Olmstead remained married until his death in 1968.
After Leonard's death, Olmstead remained in the Los Angeles area, and died in Beverly Hills on January 18, 1975. She is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, near her husband, Robert Z. Leonard.
Filmography
Actress
1929
Show of Shows as
Performer in 'Bicycle Built for Two' Number
1929
The Time, the Place and the Girl as
Mae Ellis
1929
Sonny Boy as
Mary
1929
The Lone Wolf's Daughter as
Helen Fairchild
1928
Hey Rube! as
Lutie
1928
Passion Song as
Elaine Van Ryn
1928
Sweet Sixteen as
Patricia Perry
1928
Midnight Life as
Betty Brown
1928
Hit of the Show as
Kathlyn Carson
1928
Green Grass Widows as
Betty Worthing
1928
Bringing Up Father as
Ellen
1928
Sporting Goods as
Alice Elliott
1928
A Woman Against the World as
Bernice Crane, Bride
1928
The Cheer Leader as
Jean Howard
1927
Life in Hollywood No. 7 (Short)
1927
Buttons as
Ruth Stratton
1927
Becky as
Nan Estabrook
1927
The Callahans and the Murphys as
Monica Murphy
1927
Mr. Wu as
Hilda Gregory (as Gertrude Olmsted)
1926
The Cheerful Fraud as
Ann Kent
1926
Puppets as
Angela
1926
The Boob as
Amy (as Gertrude Olmsted)
1926
Monte Carlo as
Sally Roxford
1926
Torrent as
Remedios
1926
Sweet Adeline as
Adeline
1925
Cobra as
Mary Drake
1925
Time, the Comedian as
Ruth Dakon
1925
California Straight Ahead as
Betty Browne
1925
The Monster as
Betty Watson
1924
Life's Greatest Game as
Nora Malone
1924
Empty Hands as
Typsy
1924
Lovers' Lane as
Mary Larkin
1924
Babbitt as
Eunice Littlefield
1924
A Girl of the Limberlost as
Edith Carr
1924
Ladies to Board as
Edith Oliver
1924
George Washington, Jr. as
Dolly Johnson
1923
Cameo Kirby as
Adele Randall
1923
Trilby as
Miss Bagot
1923
In Hock (Short)
1923
Better Than Gold (Short) as
Kate Norris
1923
The Wandering Two (Short)
1923
The Fight for a Mine (Short) as
Jane Logan
1923
Hard to Beat (Short)
1923
The Guilty Hand (Short) as
Molly
1923
God's Law (Short)
1923
One of Three (Short)
1923
Fighting Blood as
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
1922
The Loaded Door as
Molly Grainger
1922
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe as
Marion Lane
1922
A Blue-Jacket's Honor (Short)
1922
Friday, the Thirteenth (Short) as
The Wife
1922
The Scrapper as
Eileen McCarthy
1922
The Phantom Terror (Short)
1922
Westward Whoa! (Short) as
Mrs. Gloom
1921
Shadows of Conscience as
Winifred Coburn
1921
The Fox as
Stella Fraser
1921
The Fighting Lover as
Jean Forsdale
1921
The Big Adventure as
Sally
1921
The Cactus Kid (Short)
1921
Out o' Luck (Short)
1921
The Fightin' Fury (Short)
1921
Kickaroo (Short)
1921
Sweet Revenge (Short)
1921
The Driftin' Kid (Short)
1920
Tipped Off (Short) as
Marion Ross
Self
1930
Fashion News (Documentary short) as
Self (1929)
1926
Screen Snapshots, Series 6, No. 16 (Documentary short) as
