Cat. #0058621: LOIS WILSON

Uncommon vintage 8x10-inch black and white chest-up portrait, boldly signed in black fountain pen and dated 1938, in another hand, along the bottom border.  In good condition, with very gentle edge wear and some surface wear to the back of the image from prior mounting. Serenely beautiful silent and early talkie film actress Lois Wilson appeared in a string of J. Warren Kerrigan westerns and the early horror flick The Bells (1918) before transferring to Famous Players in 1919, where she found fame in her subtly shaded portrayal of an outwardly meek, but inwardly determined Scotswoman in What Every Woman Knows (1921). After the studio reteamed her with Kerrigan for The Covered Wagon in 1923, she was in demand for outdoor epics, but grew increasingly picky about the parts she was willing to pay, citing artistic integrity and frustration with the depictions of Native Americans by Hollywood. Despite memorable performances as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1926), Shirley Temple's tragically killed mother in Bright Eyes (1934) and Dr. Louise Stone in the Onslow Stevens sci-fi picture Life Returns (1935), the studio, which had recently become part of Paramount, gradually lost its patience with her and sent her packing towards Broadway, where she pursued a stage career from the late 1930s onward. Her autograph is rather elusive in any format.