Mary Beth Milford

Mary Beth Milford in 1923.

Marian Elizabeth Cox, also known by her married names Mary E. Noyes and Mary E. Ottenheimer, (August 2, 1904 – October 8, 1982) was an American actress and dancer who was known on the stage and in film as Mary Beth Milford. Born in Texas and raised in California, she began her career as a child dancer in the mid 1910s in Los Angeles under the name Mary Beth Cox. In the late 1910s and early 1920s she performed on Broadway in The Greenwich Village Follies (1919), Sally (1920), and Music Box Revue (1921-1922). She appeared in films in uncredited roles as early as 1914, and had a career as a leading silent film actress from 1923 to 1927. After this she retired from performance. She later worked as a music arranger in Los Angeles. She should not be confused with the comedienne Mary Milford who performed in sound films and on the stage in the 1930s and 1940s.

Early life and career

Mary Beth Cox (later known as Mary Beth Milford) in 1917.

The daughter of Albert Sidney Cox and Ida Cox,[1][2] Marian Elizabeth ("Mary Beth") Cox was born in El Paso, Texas on August 2, 1904.[1][3][4] By the time of 1910 United States Federal Census she was living in Los Angeles, California with her parents.[5] Her cousin was the actress Mary Miles Minter.[6] As a child she studied singing in Los Angeles with Thomas Taylor Drill and was one of several pupils who performed in recital at the Majestic Theatre in 1917.[7] She also studied ballet in L.A. with Ernest Belcher.[8]

In 1916 the Los Angeles Evening Express reported that Mary Beth Cox was an accomplished dancer active in the Los Angeles Travel club, a youth organization, and that she had appeared in silent films.[9] She had uncredited parts in The Pursuit of the Phantom (1914), A Little Princess (1917, with Mary Pickford), A Virgin Paradise (1921, with Pearl White), Footlights (1921, with Elsie Ferguson), and the The Old Oaken Bucket (1921, with May Tully).[10]

In the summer of 1916 she performed in the 20th annual Shakespeare Pageant in Los Angeles.[11] She also performed at many community events sponsored by various clubs in Los Angeles in the mid 1910s;[12] giving dramatic readings as well as dancing and singing.[13][6] In 1917 the Los Angeles Tribune published a photograph of Mary Beth Cox performing Russian ballet.[14]

Work on Broadway and leading roles in film

Cox adopted the stage name Mary Beth Milford in New York City. In 1919 she made her Broadway debut as a dancer in The Greenwich Village Follies.[15] This was follow by performances in a musical revue organized by Gus Edwards in 1920,[15] and work in the ensemble of the Broadway musical Sally by Jerome Kern.[8] In the 1921-1922 season she starred in Irving Berlin's Music Box Revue at Broadway's Music Box Theatre.[16]

Milford's first credited screen role was for the Film Booking Offices of America film in Fighting Blood (1923) which was based on a short story by H. C. Witwer.[15] In her early film career she appeared in many short silent films with George O'Hara;[17] including So This Is Hollywood (1923),[18] She Supes to Conquer (1923),[19] Long Live the Ring (1923),[20] The Taming of the Shrewd (1923),[21] The Wages of Cinema (1923, as Rosemary),[22] Merchant of Menace (1923),[23] and Babes in Hollywood (1923).[24]

Her later film credits included several feature length films; including After Dark (1924, as Little Eva),[25] Turned Up (1924, as Betty Browne),[26] Morals for Men (1925, as Mary),[27] Bashful Whirlwind (1925, as Gladys Denton), The Bloodhound (1925, as Marie Rambo),[28] Galloping Vengeance (1925, as Marion Reeves),[29] That Man Jack! (1925, as Anita Leland),[30][31] Are Parents People? (1925, as Aurella Wilton),[32][33] The Right Man (1925, as Mary Burton), Rough Stuff (1925),[34] Once in a Lifetime (1925, as Edna Perry),[35] A Horse on Broadway (1926),[36] and The Reckless Mollycoddle (1927).[37]

Later life

Billboard magazine reported in its January 22, 1927 edition that Mary Beth Milford had recently married Hollywood businessman Harold A. Noyes.[38] However, her marriage certificate dates the marriage to years earlier with a wedding occurring in Los Angeles on October 26, 1923.[39] The 1940 United States Federal Census reports that Mary and Harold were living in Long Beach, California with their son Michael and daughter Lynne.[40]

In the 1950 United States Federal Census it was reported that Mary was divorced and that she was employed in Los Angeles as a music arranger. Her mother, Ida, was living with her and her two children at their home on Lennington Avenue in L.A. at this time.[41] Her daughter's 1954 wedding announcement in the San Francisco Chronicle states that she was married to Lindsey Ottenheimer and was living in Westwood, Los Angeles.[42] Her second husband died on April 27, 1968.[43]

Mary Elizabeth Ottenheimer died in Los Angeles on October 8, 1982.[4][44] She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[45]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Marian Elizebeth Cox in the Texas, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1903-1932
  2. ↑ "The Travel Club". Los Angeles Times. April 21, 1918. p. 42.
  3. ↑ Marian Elizabeth Cox in the Texas, U.S., Birth Index, 1903-1997, Certificate Number 41367
  4. 1 2 Mary Elizabeth Ottenheimer in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997
  5. ↑ Mary E Cox in the 1910 United States Federal Census
  6. 1 2 "Popular Child Is Real Clever Entertainer". Los Angeles Evening Express. December 28, 1916. p. 10.
  7. ↑ "Song Recital". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. June 22, 1917. p. 13.
  8. 1 2 "Enters Movies After Big Dance Successes". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. June 9, 1923. p. 6.
  9. ↑ Willis, Dorothy (April 4, 1916). "Clubs". Los Angeles Evening Express. p. 10.
  10. ↑ "Just Comes Naturally for Mary". Moving Picture World. November 3, 1923. p. 102.
  11. ↑ "Shakespeare Pageant". The Los Angeles Times. June 18, 1916. p. 23.
  12. ↑ "Officers Named". The Los Angeles Times. April 7, 1916. p. 18.
  13. ↑ "Ebell Folk to Give Hamlet in French". Los Angeles Morning Tribune. April 16, 1916. p. 30.
  14. ↑ "Clubdom Busy in Relief Work". Los Angeles Morning Tribune. October 28, 1917. p. 31.
  15. 1 2 3 "New Star Dawns". Los Angeles Times. May 31, 1923. p. 33.
  16. ↑ Norton 2002, pp. 262–263.
  17. ↑ "Pictures Mail Man's Life Form". Exhibitors Herald. July 21, 1923. p. 38.
  18. ↑ "Stage and Screen News". Portland Press Herald. September 8, 1923. p. 3.
  19. ↑ "The Ring for Romance". Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat. October 28, 1923. p. 20.
  20. ↑ "Rope Twirler at Portland". Portland Press Herald. March 14, 1924. p. 4.
  21. ↑ "Lights Out Hero Puzzle". Portland Press Herald. April 11, 1924. p. 4.
  22. ↑ "The Wages of Cinema". Motion Picture News. November 3, 1923. p. 2139.
  23. ↑ "Movies Active With New Productions for the Week". The Courier-Journal. March 30, 1924. p. 27.
  24. ↑ "Central Marriage Morals". Washington Evening Star. January 21, 1924. p. 5.
  25. ↑ Munden 1971, p. 9.
  26. ↑ Munden 1971, p. 837.
  27. ↑ Ankerich 2010, p. 53.
  28. ↑ Lentz 1996, p. 1026.
  29. ↑ Lentz 1996, p. 1156.
  30. ↑ Rainey 2024, p. 209.
  31. ↑ Lentz 1996, p. 1436.
  32. ↑ Corey 1992, pp. 52–53.
  33. ↑ Munden 1971, p. 24.
  34. ↑ "State Popular Pictures". Martinez Daily Standard. December 23, 1926. p. 6.
  35. ↑ Munden 1971, p. 567.
  36. ↑ "Riot of Fun at Broadway Theatre". The Chico Enterprise. December 14, 1926. p. 12.
  37. ↑ "The Reckless Mollycoddle". Border Watch. November 22, 1927. p. 2.
  38. ↑ "Marriages: Noyes-Milford". Billboard. 39 (4): 89. January 22, 1927.
  39. ↑ Mary E Cox in the California, U.S., County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980
  40. ↑ Mary Noyes in the 1940 United States Federal Census
  41. ↑ Mary B Noyes in the 1950 United States Federal Census
  42. ↑ "Lynne Noyes is Engaged". San Francisco Chronicle. July 19, 1954. p. 11.
  43. ↑ Lindsey W Ottenheimer in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997
  44. ↑ Mary Ottenheimer in the U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
  45. ↑ "Ottenheimer, Mary E.". The Los Angeles Times. October 12, 1982. p. 20.

Bibliography

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