Born Today January 25: Ruth Dwyer

 

[Source: Wikimedia Commons (location: University of Washington, Special Collections)]

 1898-1978

 

Film actress Ruth Dwyer is famous for starring opposite Buster Keaton in his 1925 comedy feature Seven Chances, but she got her start in the film business in 1919.  Dwyer was born in Brooklyn, New York on this day; and despite being a New York girl, she was associated from the beginning with actions roles and cowgirl parts. She made her debut in the five part serial The Lurking Peril in 1919 made by Wisteria Productions and directed by George Morgan. She next appeared in another action serial in 1920, The Evil Eye; an early Hallmark production, it had 15 episodes (all of which are considered lost) with direction by Wally Van and J. Gordon Cooper (a director that mostly worked as an assistant director during his career).  Her first turn in a feature came in the Christy Cabanne director melodrama The Stealers (1920), featuring amongst other players, one Norma Shearer. Her next two features were not only directed by now well known directors, but represent the first two roles in the which she took the female lead. In 1921, she acted opposite Eugene O'Brien in the George Archainbaud directed Clay Dollars.  Skipping a year in film acting, she next took the female lead in the William A. Wellman directed Fox production Second Hand Love (1923) opposite western star Buck Jones.  Her film career was, of course, not all made up of action serials or rustic roles; she appeared in films across genres, including:  His Mystery Girl (a comedy from 1923), Dark Stairways (a mystery from 1924) and Cornered (a crime drama from 1924). A year before her appearance in the Keaton film, she had a leading role in another comedy with Reginald Denny:  The Reckless Age (August 1924) directed by Harry A. Pollard. Of course it is her role as "His Girl" in Seven Chances, acting opposite the superstar that was Keaton (who also directed the film), for which she best remembered. After appearing with Keaton in Seven Chances she went right back to action roles, acting in White Fang (based on the Jack London novel of the same name) with World War I veteran Strongheart the Dog (yup, he was a vet!), the very first German Shepard star actor of the flickers. In 1926 and 1927, she acted in several Johnny Hines films, all directed by his brother Charles. She effectively retired from acting in 1928, though she made a handful of film appearances in tiny parts after. Her last film in the 1920's was Alex the Great (May 1928), a little known comedy actually produced by Film Booking Offices of America (FBO). She appeared in just one film in the 1930's and five films in the 1940's--all of her appearances went uncredited. Her absolute last film role came in Slightly Dangerous, a Lana Turner romantic comedy released in 1943.  Her and her actor husband Bill Jackie then went into business for themselves as talents agents, founding the Ruth Dwyer Agency, with Jackie becoming one of the best agents in town for a time. The two remained married until Jackie's death in 1954; to my knowledge, Dwyer never remarried. She passed away in Woodland Hills on the 2nd of the March in 1978 at the age of 80. Her burial is currently unknown.

 

With Buster in Seven Chances

 

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