Violet Louise Wilkey was born on January 10, 1903 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the eldest child born to Arthur Wilkey and his wife, Annie Dora Winter. Her younger brother, Frederick was born eight years later. Arthur Wilkey supported his family by working as a streetcar operator and later as a laboratory technician for the movie studios.
She made her film debut in the 1914 short, The Old Maid, playing a younger version of Blanche Sweet's character.
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| Harold Goodwin and Violet |
The following year she appeared in D.W. Griffith's epic, The Birth of a Nation. She played the younger version of Mae Marsh's character. Her next film that year she once again played a younger Mae Marsh.
Her career was quite short, and she made her final screen appearance in 1917's Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Violet played the role of Millie, the bully to Mary Pickford's Rebecca.
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| Mary Pickford and Violet |
Violet Wilkey passed away on June 5, 1976 in North Hollywood, California. I do not know where she is buried, but it may be at Forest Lawn in Glendale with her parents.
Violet was married once, to Russell Kauffmann, an assistant manager at a department store. The couple married in 1927 and had two children: Robert Russell in 1927 and Patricia in 1931. The marriage ended in divorce in 1976.
She was a pretty girl! Did she really stay married all those years and get divorced the year she died? I hope she has a nice spot where she is buried and is not forgotten.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought that was quite interesting too...
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