Tuesday, July 23, 2013

No Talkies: Part II

Next we move on to four silent actors who were taken from the world because of pneumonia: Florence Barker, Ward Crane, Jack Standing, and Emily Stevens.

Let us proceed...

Florence Barker was born on November 22, 1891 in Los Angeles, California. She was the first of four daughters and a son born to William, a farmer, and his wife, Hattie. Sister Bertha was born two years later, then Nellie, brother Leigh, and Daisy.

As a child, Florence appeared in plays for her community theatre and for school. When she was eighteen years old, she was becoming the star of the plays and performing in famous venues in Los Angeles. It was around the same time that she began her film career as well.

Florence made her screen debut in the 1908 short, An Awful Moment, which also featured her friend, Florence Lawrence (There was actually a Florence trifecta in play! Barker, La Badie, and Lawrence!).

Her film career spanned only about four years but within those four years she made over 70 films. Most of the films she appeared in were shorts because this was from 1908 to 1912, this was still early days in the film industry. During her career she had the chance to act alongside such stars as Henry B. Walthall, Hoot Gibson, Mack Sennett, and all three of the Pickford siblings (Mary, Lottie, and Jack). 

As an actor with the Biograph Company, Florence appeared in the Priscilla serials playing the lead character. Episodes in this serial included Priscilla and the Umbrella (1911), Priscilla's Engagement Ring (1911), and Priscilla's Capture (1912).

Florence Barker passed away on February 15, 1913 from pneumonia in Los Angeles. She was just 21 years old. 

I am not sure where Florence is buried, but I am assuming it is in Los Angeles since that is where she was born and where she died. 

"Miss Florence Barker, whose charming personality and genius challenged the admiration of theatrical cities and won the hearts of her audience everywhere, succumbed to an acute attack of pneumonia and died..." ~~ L.A. Times - February 16, 1913


Ward Crane was born on May 18, 1890 in Albany, New York. He was the only son of John, a railroad engineer, and his wife, Alida. 

His career aspirations growing up did not include the stage, but they did include a dais of sorts. He began to work in government jobs as a stenographer and as a secretary to the then Governor of New York. When said governor was impeached and forced to resign from his position, Ward ended up joining the Navy and was transferred to San Diego, California. 

While stationed in California, Ward met a few actors who were visiting the base and they told him that he was good looking guy and he should be in the pictures!

Ward made his film debut in 1919 in The Dark Star, which starred Marion Davies. Not a bad way to start! He had a great career alongside such big names as Wallace Beery, Anna Q. Nilsson, Anita Stewart, Barbara La Marr, Billie Burke, Mae Murray, Norma Talmadge, Lew Cody...the list keeps going!

I can't speak for back then, but in this day his most well known role was in the 1924 Buster Keaton film, Sherlock Jr. Ward was the bad guy that you hissed at on the screen. *hissssss* The following year he played the villain in another smash hit, The Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney.

His last film appearance was in the 1928 film, The Rush Hour with Marie Prevost and Harrison Ford.

Ward, Kathryn McGuire, and Buster Keaton

Ward Crane passed away on July 21, 1928 in Saranac Lake, New York. He was only 38 years old when he was diagnosed with pneumonia and died three months later. I am not sure where he is buried, but I am assuming it is in New York.

From what I have read, Ward never married. He was once rumored to be engaged to Irene Castle who he starred with in the movie French Heels. When he was asked about his relationship by a reporter in 1923, all he had to say was, "Nothing to it!" Straight shooter that man.

According to a 1920 article in Photoplay, Ward enjoyed driving his car around California. 

According to another Photoplay article that was written after his death, Ward had been in love with Marie Prevost for years. It was said to have been a huge blow when he found out that Marie had briefly reconciled with her husband, Kenneth Harlan. 


Jack Standing was born on February 10, 1886 in London, England, United Kingdom. He was one of six sons born to actor Herbert Standing and his wife, Emily. Jack's three older brothers, Guy, Percy, and Wyndham, were also actors. 

Obviously the acting bug was already in his genes, so it wasn't long before he was appearing on stage like his father and brothers. Jack was actually part of the Broadway production of Floradora for a brief period of time. 

Jack made his film debut in a 1911 short called A Good Turn which starred Florence Lawrence. 

In a span of about seven years, Jack appeared in over 50 films, mostly for the and Lubin film company. His costars in his films included names like William S. Hart, Louise Glaum, Miriam Cooper, Gladys Brockwell, and Henry B. Walthall. 

Jack was lucky when it came to film roles because he wasn't type casted. He sometimes played the dashing love interest and he sometimes played the evil villain. 

His last film appearance was in With Hoops of Steel which was made in 1917 but was released posthumously in 1918.

Jack Standing passed away on October 25, 1917 in Los Angeles. He succumbed to pneumonia at age 31. 

I believe he was interred at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. 

Jack was married once, and for some reason I can't seem to find much information on who she was or when they married. I believe her name was Janet though because there is a woman by that name buried next to the Jack Standing buried in the Green Hills Memorial Park. Their son, Jack Standing Jr. was born in 1914 and may have appeared in some of his father's films when he was a baby. 


Emily Stevens was born on February 27, 1882 in New York City. She was the daughter of theatrical manager, Robert Stevens and his wife, Emma. 

Acting was already in Emily's genes from the get go. Her first cousin was actress, Minnie Maddern Fiske and her father had worked as a manager in the theatrical circuit for years. 

Emily went to school in New Jersey and after she graduated, she trained with her cousin to prep her for her stage debut in 1900. Over the years, the reviews of her performances got better and better. People were noticing that she didn't seem as nervous and didn't feel the need to over act as much anymore. 

She made her screen debut in 1915 as the title character in Cora. During the course of five years, Emily appeared in about 15 titles, acting alongside such names as King Baggot, Muriel Ostriche, Evelyn Brent,  and Harry Davenport. 

While she made a big splash on the stage, she didn't make a huge impact on the silver screen. Emily started acting in the movies at age 33 and was considered 'too old' for most companies so she wasn't in very high demand. The theatre remained her true bread and butter. 

Her last film appearance was in 1920's The Place of the Honeymoons. After that, she went back to the stage and continued in appearing in such plays as "Hedda Gabler" by Ibsen. 

Emily Stevens passed away on January 3, 1928 in New York City at the age of 45. 

Eventually the cause of death was listed as pneumonia but there was plenty of drama and conjecture going on before that diagnosis was finally made. Apparently before her death, Emily had suffered a nervous breakdown and had been under the care of a doctor for almost a year. Her doctor was treating her with shots to sedate her, and at first he believed that she could have possibly taken an overdose of said drugs. He later concluded that the drugs may have put her into a coma and during this state she developed pneumonia and that is what caused her death. 

Emily was taken to New Jersey where she was cremated. 

Emily never married but she did pine for the same man for most of her life, the husband of her cousin Minnie Maddern Fiske, Harrison Fiske. She never pursued him and never turned her attention to any other men. Talk about devotion!

I found a New York Times article from 1920 that talked about Emily not being able to make a stage performance because she was suffering from a "slight nervous breakdown." How does one have a 'slight' nervous breakdown???


  1. After viewing two of Griffith's 1909/10 shorts in which Miss Barker appeared, I remember going to imdb and being dumbfounded that the lively and attractive young lady whom I had seen in the films passed away so young, and so early on--1913 is just barely out of the infancy of film. It's great that, since a lot of pre-1912 films survive, we can at least see these earlier stars!

    The two films that I saw, Her Terrible Ordeal, and Faithful are really great, and very different from others from that era that I've seen in that the acting is much more naturalistic, for lack of a better term, and there's a humor to both that I don't see much in Griffith's films. Although Her Terrible Ordeal does have a serious situation occur later in the film, there's a lot of cute romantic interaction between Miss Barker and Owen Moore early on that is quite winning.

    It's great that you have kept her memory alive!

    1. Hey Jon! It is awful what happened to Florence Barker. I think she had a lot of potential and tragically her life was cut way too short. Something with being a silent film actress and being named Florence seems to be the kiss of death...Barker, Lawrence, La Badie.

  2. Hey! I love your site!!! Kudos!! Florence Barker us buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles in the cremation memorials area :)

    1. Awww thank you so much! And thank you for the heads up about where Florence is buried, I appreciate it very much!

  3. Hi there!

    I've only recently discovered your blog and have been really enjoying reading back through the old entries.

    I thought you might be interested in this info on Florence Barker's burial...


    Looking forward to reading more of your work.