Volume III: Biographies

LEARY, Gilda *

Actress (1915)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Gilda Leary appeared in a film made in the Thanhouser studio and released under the Mutual name, titled The Seventh Noon.

Biographical Notes: Gilda Leary was born in England in 1886 (one account says in America in 1891) and was said to have been educated in a convent there, after which she moved with her family to Victoria, British Columbia, where she made her stage debut with the Princess Players. Later, she was with Keith's stock company in Toledo, Ohio, after which she was Jane Cowl's understudy in the New York City production of Within the Law. Her other stage roles included parts in Daddy Long Legs, A Prince There Was, Stolen Orders, The Irish Dragoon, Heart o' the Heather, and Trial Divorce. In 1913 she was at the Empire Theatre in New York City and was with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Empire School of Dramatic Acting, appearing in Sympathetic Souls in March of that year. (At the same time, Virginia Norden, who at one time was affiliated with Thanhouser, was also at the Empire.) For a time, circa 1916, she changed her surname to "Lorry" on the stage, but most appearances were made under Leary. In 1915, Gilda Leary was seen in the Thanhouser-Mutual release of The Seventh Noon.

On December 19, 1915 she and Josephine Stevens, a fellow stage actress in The Irish Dragoon company, were jailed in Atlantic City for refusing to work for half pay during Christmas week. The complaint alleged that after they left, they had not returned their trunks, which belonged to the stage company. After a hearing, the charges were dismissed. She played many parts on the stage over the years, with her final appearance being in Puppets and Passion in 1927. Miss Leary died of Addison's disease in New York City on April 17, 1927. Services were held at the Church of the Transfiguration, 1 West 29th Street. She was survived by her mother, a sister, and a brother.

Note: Her first name appeared erroneously as "Glide" in a notice in The Moving Picture World.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1915: The Seventh Noon (Mutual 11-4-1915)

# # #