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Phyllis Virginia " Bebe" () Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer.
She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such as Rio Rita (1929), and later gained fame on radio and television in Britain. Over the course of her 50-year career, Daniels appeared in 230 films.
The family moved to Los Angeles in her childhood, and she began her acting career at the age of 4 in the first version of Edwin Milton Royle's 1905 play The Squaw Man. The same year, she went on tour in a stage production of Shakespeare Richard III. The following year, she participated in productions by Oliver Morosco and David Belasco.
By the age of 7, Daniels had her first starring role in film as the young heroine in A Common Enemy. At the age of 9, she starred as Dorothy Gale in the 1910 short film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At the age of 14, she was hired by comedy producer Hal Roach at $5 per day to star with Roach's star comedian Harold Lloyd in a series of one-reel comedies, starting with the 1915 film Giving Them Fits. Lloyd and Daniels eventually developed a romantic relationship that was well publicized; they were known in Hollywood as "The Boy" and "The Girl". The Girl and The Boy, "Bebe and Harold Were A Perfect Match On and Off the Screen" by Tim Lussier
In 1919, she declined to renew her contract with Hal Roach because she wanted to be a dramatic actress. She accepted an offer from producer-director Cecil B. DeMille, who gave her secondary roles in Male and Female (1919), Why Change Your Wife? (1920), and The Affairs of Anatol (1921).
Radio Pictures starred her in a number of musicals, including Dixiana (1930) and Love Comes Along (1930). Toward the end of 1930, Daniels appeared in the musical comedy Reaching for the Moon, released through United Artists. However, by this time, musicals had gone out of fashion, and most of the musical numbers from the film had to be removed before it could be released. Daniels had become associated with musicals, and Radio Pictures did not renew her contract. Warner Bros. realized she was a box-office draw, and she was offered a contract. During her years at Warner Bros., she starred in My Past (1931), Honor of the Family (1931), and the 1931 pre-code version of The Maltese Falcon. In 1932, she appeared in Silver Dollar (1932) and the successful Busby Berkeley choreographed musical comedy 42nd Street (1933) in which she sang. The same year, she played in Counsellor at Law. Her last film for Warner Bros. was Registered Nurse (1934).
Following his release, another confrontation took place, and Holland was again arrested. A lengthy trial in Los Angeles took place, with Holland conducting most of his own defense, including a lengthy cross-examination of Daniels' husband Ben Lyon. The actress Doris Kenyon, a friend of Daniels and Lyon, testified for the prosecution. Ultimately, the jury found Holland to be mentally unfit, and he was committed to a psychiatric facility for an indefinite period. Daniels and Lyon then moved to London.
Following the war, Daniels was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Harry S Truman for war service. In 1945, she returned to Hollywood for a short time to work as a film producer for Hal Roach and Eagle-Lion Films. She returned to the UK in 1948 and lived there for the remainder of her life. Daniels, her husband, her son Richard and her daughter Barbara all starred in the radio sitcom Life with the Lyons (1951 to 1961), which later made the transition to television.
Daniels suffered a severe stroke in 1963 and withdrew from public life. She suffered a second stroke in late 1970. On March 16, 1971, Daniels died of a cerebral hemorrhage in London at the age of 70. Daniels' death came only nine days after her former co-star Harold Lloyd died. Her remains were cremated at London's Golders Green Crematorium and the ashes returned to the United States; she was interred at the Chapel Columbarium at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Upon his death in 1979, Ben Lyon's remains were interred next to Daniels'.
Selected filmography
+ Short subjects March 24, 1910 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Dorothy Gale Role disputed as credits are lost December 29, 1910 Justinian and Theodora December 21, 1911 A Counterfeit Santa Claus January 21, 1913 The Savage Bit part January 22, 1914 Anne of the Golden Heart Lucy Blake Lost film November 1, 1915 Giving Them Fits Co-Worker November 8, 1915 Bughouse Bellhops Lost film December 15, 1915 Ruses, Rhymes and Roughnecks Lost film January 5, 1916 Lonesome Luke Leans to the Literary Lost film January 31, 1916 Luke, the Candy Cut-Up March 15, 1916 Luke Pipes the Pippins Lost film June 5, 1916 Luke Laughs Last Lost film December 3, 1916 Luke's Movie Muddle January 7, 1917 Luke's Lost Liberty Lost film January 21, 1917 Luke's Busy Day Lost film February 4, 1917 Luke's Trolley Troubles Lost film March 18, 1917 Lonesome Luke's Lively Life May 20, 1917 Lonesome Luke's Honeymoon Lost film August 5, 1917 Lonesome Luke, Messenger The Girl September 30, 1917 By the Sad Sea Waves October 14, 1917 Bliss The Girl October 28, 1917 Rainbow Island November 11, 1917 The Flirt November 25, 1917 All Aboard The Girl April 28, 1918 Hey There! The Leading Lady May 12, 1918 The Non-Stop Kid Miss Wiggle May 19, 1918 Two-Gun Gussie The Girl July 7, 1918 An Ozark Romance Mountain Girl December 15, 1918 Take a Chance The Hired Girl January 26, 1919 Going! Going! Gone! Miss Goulash February 9, 1919 Ask Father Switchboard operator March 30, 1919 Next Aisle Over Miss Paprika April 6, 1919 A Sammy in Siberia Olga May 4, 1919 Young Mr. Jazz The Girl August 31, 1919 Don't Shove Bebe November 2, 1919 Bumping into Broadway The Girl September 24, 1924 Hello, 'Frisco Herself + Silent features 1919 Male and Female The King's Favourite Everywoman Vice Lost film 1920 Why Change Your Wife? Sally Clark The Dancin' Fool Junie Budd Sick Abed Nurse Durant You Never Can Tell Rowena Patricia Jones The Fourteenth Man Marjory Seaton Lost film Oh, Lady, Lady Mary Barber Lost film She Couldn't Help It Young Nance Lost film 1921 Ducks and Drakes Teddy Simpson Two Weeks with Pay Pansy O'Donnell/Marie La Tour Lost film The March Hare Lisbeth Ann Palmer Lost film One Wild Week Pauline Hathaway Lost film The Affairs of Anatol Satan Synne The Speed Girl Betty Lee Lost film 1922 Nancy from Nowhere Nancy Lost film A Game Chicken Inez Hastings Lost film North of the Rio Grande Val Hannon Lost film Nice People Theodora Gloucester Lost film Pink Gods Lorraine Temple Lost film Singed Wings Bonita della Guerda Lost film 1923 The World's Applause Corinne d'Alys Lost film The Glimpses of the Moon Susan Branch Lost film The Exciters Ronnie Rand Lost film Hollywood Herself (cameo) Lost film His Children's Children Diane Lost film 1924 The Heritage of the Desert Mescal Daring Youth Alita Allen Lost film Unguarded Women Breta Banning Lost film Monsieur Beaucaire Princess Henriette Sinners in Heaven Barbara Stockley Lost film Dangerous Money Adele Clark Lost film Argentine Love Consuelo Garcia Lost film 1925 Miss Bluebeard Colette Girard The Crowded Hour Peggy Laurence Lost film The Manicure Girl Maria Maretti Lost film Wild, Wild Susan Susan Van Dusen Lost film Lovers in Quarantine Diana 1926 The Splendid Crime Jenny Lost film Miss Brewster's Millions Polly Brewster Lost film The Palm Beach Girl Emily Bennett Lost film Volcano! Zabette de Chavalons The Campus Flirt Patricia Mansfield Lost film Stranded in Paris Julie McFadden Lost film 1927 A Kiss in a Taxi Ginette Lost film Señorita Señorita Francesca Hernandez Swim Girl, Swim Alice Smith Lost film She's a Sheik Zaida 1928 Feel My Pulse Barbara Manning The Fifty-Fifty Girl Kathleen O'Hara Lost film Hot News Pat Clancy Lost film Take Me Home Peggy Lane Lost film What a Night! Dorothy Winston Lost film + Sound films and television 1929 Rio Rita Rita Ferguson Incomplete film, the version available is an edited 1932 re-release 1930 Love Comes Along Peggy Incomplete film Alias French Gertie Gertie Jones/aka Marie Dixiana Dixiana Caldwell Lawful Larceny Marion Dorsey Reaching for the Moon Vivien Benton 1931 My Past Miss Doree Macy The Maltese Falcon Ruth Wonderly Honor of the Family Laura Lost film 1932 Silver Dollar Lily Owens Martin 1933 42nd Street Dorothy Brock Cocktail Hour Cynthia Warren Counsellor at Law Regina "Rexy" Gordon The Song You Gave Me Mitzi Hansen A Southern Maid Juanita/Dolores 1934 Registered Nurse Sylvia 'Ben' Benton 1935 Music Is Magic Diane De Valle 1936 Treachery on the High Seas May Hardy Alternative title: Not Wanted on Voyage 1938 The Return of Carol Deane Carol Deane 1941 Hi Gang! The Liberty Girl 1947 The Fabulous Joe Producer 1954 Life with the Lyons Bebe Lyon Alternative title: Family Affair 1955 The Lyons in Paris Bebe Alternative titles: Mr. and Mrs. in Paree
The Lyons Abroad1955–1960 Life with the Lyons Bebe Lyon Unknown episodes
producer, writer
Selected radio performances
1939 Rinso Radio Revue Bebe Daniels Radio Luxembourg, with Ben Lyon, Tommy Handley and others 1941-1949 Hi Gang! Bebe Lyon BBC, with Ben, Barbara and Richard Lyon and Vic Oliver 1950-1961 Life with the Lyons Bebe Lyon BBC, with Ben, Barbara and Richard Lyon
Bibliography
Charles L. Epting (2026). 9781476663746, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co Inc. ISBN 9781476663746
Footnotes
External links
Categories: 1900s Births, 1971 Deaths, 20th-century American Actresses, American Child Actresses, American Expatriate Actresses, American Expatriates In England, American Film Actresses, Film Producers From Texas, American Musical Theatre Actresses, American Silent Film Actresses, American Stage Actresses, American Radio Actresses, American Television Actresses, American Television Producers, American Women Television Producers, American People Of Scottish Descent, American People Of Colombian Descent, Burials At Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Paramount Pictures Contract Players, Recipients Of The Medal Of Freedom, American Women Screenwriters, Warner Bros. Contract Players, 20th-century American Women Writers, 20th-century American Singers, 20th-century American Businesspeople, 20th-century American Businesswomen, 20th-century American Women Singers, American Women Film Producers, 20th-century American Screenwriters, People Cremated At Golders Green Crematorium
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