Dorothy Benham, young daughter of Thanhouser players Harry Benham and Ethyle Cooke Benham, was a well known Thanhouser child player during the 1912-1916 period.
Dorothy Benham
A Thanhouser Company player, in one film you can watch free online.
Watch Dorothy BenhamOpens The Girl of the Cabaret (1913)
Biography
From Bowers’ encyclopedia entry. Read the full biography below ↓
Filmography
Films you can watch
Other Thanhouser films
- 1912The Wrecked TaxiLost
- 1912The County’s Prize BabyLost
- 1913Their Great Big Beautiful DollLost
- 1913The Law of HumanityLost
- 1914A Circumstantial NurseLost
- 1914Her First LessonLost
- 1915The Commuted SentenceLost
- 1915Mr. Meeson’s WillLost
- 1916The Whispered WordLost
- 1916The FugitiveNo online copy
These have no online copy. Each page says what is known about where a print is held.
From the encyclopedia
The full biography
From Volume III: Biographies of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. 324 words.
Born on September 6, 1910 in Boston, Massachusetts (one account says New York City), Dorothy Lucille Benham was the daughter of Harry Benham and Ethyle Cooke, who later became prominent Thanhouser players. Little Dorothy spent most of her early life in New Rochelle and appeared in Thanhouser films as early as 1912. She received wide publicity for being able to cry instantly upon receiving a signal from her mother. She worked with Thanhouser through 1916, although not on an exclusive basis.
The New Rochelle Pioneer, November 7, 1914, printed this item: “Dorothy’s first work was last year in Princess’ Law of Humanity, just before she was three years of age, and she was irresistible in it. It was the opening wedge for the little mite and she’s been in many pictures since, but her famous parents do not want to rush her screen appearance.” (Note: The Law of Humanity was far from being her first film.)
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On Saturday, August 7, 1915, her father left Thanhouser to act for Famous Players. This did not work out as planned, and soon he and his two children, Dorothy and Leland, were working for the Universal studio in Coytesville, New Jersey. For Universal Dorothy appeared in several films, including the February 1916 release of The Path of Happiness. She maintained her relationship with Thanhouser, however, and was seen in several later New Rochelle films.
Dorothy Benham remained in films through the late teens, including in a series of children’s plays produced by the Atlas Film Corporation. In 1917 she was seen in Weavers of Life (Edward Morris Productions for Renowned Pictures, states rights release) and Edward Warren’s production of The Warfare of the Flesh. She became the wife of Jack Tutton. Dorothy Benham died of Hodgkin’s disease in Watertown, Wisconsin on September 19, 1956.
Bowers’ own filmography list is left out here: the filmography above lists the same films. Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “BENHAM, Dorothy.” thanhouser.org/research/people/dorothy-benham/