Volume III: Biographies

LITTLE, Anna *

Actress (1913)

Postcard courtesy Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc.

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Anna Little was seen in a Thanhouser film in 1913.

Biographical Notes: Anna (or Ann) Little was born Mary Brooks in Sisson, California on February 7, 1891 (Picture Play magazine, May 1916, gave the year date as 1894), the daughter of Mary Hankins and James L. Brooks, and was educated in Los Angeles and Chicago. Her stage career commenced around 1907, and by 1909 she was a member of a musical comedy chorus. Later, she became a leading lady. Anna Little entered motion pictures in 1911, working first for Essanay at San Rafael, California, at the invitation of G.M. (Broncho Billy) Anderson, whom she met when she was singing prima donna parts on stage with the Ferris Hartman stock company. In later interviews, she usually omitted mention of her Essanay work, for her parts there were minor. Soon thereafter, she joined the New York Motion Picture Company, where she worked intermittently for about two years in Kay-Bee and other films. For Thanhouser she acted for a short time early in 1913. Later, she went to Universal, for whom she acted in Damon and Pythias, The Black Box serial, and other productions, after which she went to American and was seen in Land o' Lizards, Flying Sparks, and other pictures.

On August 19, 1916 she married Alan Fisher (screen name: Alan Forrest), in Santa Barbara, after a two-year romance. The October 1916 Motion Picture News Studio Directory noted she was 5'6" tall, weighed 125 pounds, and had dark hair and brown eyes. Her recreations included riding and swimming. At the time she was with American in Santa Barbara, California. Later she went to Mutual (Intermediate Lee), Selznick (The Court of St. Simon), Metro (Under Handicap), Paramount (The World for Sale), and Lasky (Nan of Music Mountain, Believe Me Xantippe, The Firefly of France, Less Than Kin, The Source, The Man From Funeral Range, The Squaw Man). In 1918 she lived at 423 Classon Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, and in 1919 her address was care of the Lasky Studio in Los Angeles. Appearing with Anna Little in Westerns were stars William S. Hart and Jack Hoxie. In 1923 she retired from the screen. Later, she was manager of the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Hollywood. Her death occurred in Los Angeles on May 21, 1984.

Note: Her preferred screen name was Anna, but it was frequently spelled as Ann. Another Anna Little died in Pittsburgh on December 20, 1921, from complications arising from a fractured leg sustained at the Shubert Theatre in that city. Her obituary appeared in Variety, December 23, 1921.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1913: His Heroine (3-4-1913)

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