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Violet Wilkey

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Occupation
  
Actress

Spouse
  
Russell Kauffmann

Role
  
Film actress

Name
  
Violet Wilkey

Years active
  
1913–1917


Violet Wilkey httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumbc

Full Name
  
Violet Louise Wilkey

Born
  
January 10, 1903 (
1903-01-10
)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.

Died
  
June 5, 1976, North Hollywood, California, United States

Movies
  
The Birth of a Nation, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Similar People
  
Joseph Henabery, Marshall Neilan, Billy Bitzer, D W Griffith, Raoul Walsh

Violet Louise Wilkey (January 10, 1903 – June 5, 1976) was an American child actress who appeared in 18 films over a four-year period during the silent film era.

Contents

Violet Wilkey Silence is Platinum Violet Wilkey

Violet Wilkey was born in St. Louis, Missouri to an English father named Arthur Wilkey and an American mother named Anna Dora Wilkey (née Winter). Violet made her motion picture debut at the age of 10 in a 1913 dramatic short entitled The Little Mother opposite actress Ruth Stonehouse. Her follow-up film would be 1914 release The Old Maid opposite such popular stars of the era as Blanche Sweet, Spottiswoode Aitken, Mary Alden and Jack Conway.

She is possibly best remembered today for her appearance as a young Flora in D. W. Griffith's controversial 1915 classic The Birth of a Nation. Wilkey portrayed the character Flora Cameron as a child in flashback scenes; the character of Flora as an adult in the film was portrayed by actress Mae Marsh.

Wilkey spent the next few years in relatively minor roles; including one of actor/director Tod Browning's early efforts The Burned Hand from 1915. Other notable films of the period were the Lloyd Ingraham directed and Anita Loos penned drama The Children Pay (1916), opposite Lillian Gish and Alma Rubens and the 1917 drama Cheerful Givers opposite Bessie Love, Aitken, Kenneth Harlan and Pauline Starke.

Wilkey's final film performance was in the role of Minnie Smellie in the 1917 comedy-drama Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, which was directed by Marshall Neilan and starred Mary Pickford in the title role. She retired from acting shortly thereafter at the age of 14.

Later life

Wilkey married Russell Gilbert Kauffmann on January 27, 1927 and the couple had two children, Robert Russell and Patricia. The marriage ended in divorce.

Filmography

Actress
1917
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm as
Minnie Smellie
1917
Cheerful Givers as
Oldest Orphan Girl
1916
The Children Pay as
Jean - Millicent's Sister
1916
The Little Liar as
Child (uncredited)
1916
Little Miss Nobody
1915
The Wayward Son (Short) as
Katie Didyer
1915
Father and Son (Short)
1915
The Kinship of Courage (Short) as
Helen - Seven Years Younger
1915
The Little Orphans (Short) as
Doris
1915
Her Fairy Prince (Short) as
Violet Nash
1915
The Healers (Short) as
Violet
1915
A Bad Man and Others (Short) as
Dorothy Hewitt - The Child
1915
The Burned Hand (Short)
1915
Hearts United (Short) as
Elsie Windom
1915
Mike's Elopement (Short) as
Bridget
1915
The Little Mother (Short) as
Mamie Delmar
1915
The Outcast as
The Girl of the Slums (as a child)
1915
The Birth of a Nation as
Flora Cameron as a Child (uncredited)
1914
The Old Maid (Short) as
Dorothy as a Child

References

Violet Wilkey Wikipedia