Volume III: Biographies

DALLAS, Gertrude *

Actress (1917)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Gertrude Dallas appeared in the 1917 Thanhouser release of The Woman in White.

Biographical Notes: A sketch of Gertrude Dallas' life appeared in The Moving Picture World, March 10, 1917: "Gertrude Dallas has been engaged by Edwin Thanhouser for the principal supporting role in a multiple-reel Thanhouser feature in which Miss Florence LaBadie is to be starred [The Woman in White]. The name of this play, the work of Lloyd Lonergan, has not yet been announced.

"Miss Dallas has had a notable career upon the stage. She is the great granddaughter of Stonewall Jackson and at the age of 18 held a good position in the St. Louis Public Library. A chance came to play a small part with James K. Hackett, and she left the library, never to return - as an employee. It is interesting to note that the first role of this young girl was that of the Negro mammy in The Crisis. This engagement lasted two weeks, at the end of which Miss Dallas was minus a position, but with a big ambition to become an actress.

"She went to New York, was fortunate enough to secure an interview with Charles Frohman, and signed to play the leading role in one of the road companies of The Thief. Her next engagement was with The Commanding Officer, while other plays in which she has appeared include The Great Name, Gamblers All, Nearly Married, and Sinners. She has also appeared in stock in Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Philadelphia. Three summers ago Miss Dallas went to Paris, and through an influential man in the government received special permission to attend classes at the National Conservatory as an auditrice, a privilege granted to few foreigners."

On July 8, 1913, on stage at the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, she had a very unpleasant experience with George LeGuere (who was to appear in a Thanhouser film in 1915), the details of which are related in the LeGuere biography in the present volume.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1917: The Woman in White (7-1-1917)

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