Barbara Castleton

Barbara Castleton
Castleton, c. 1920
Born(1894-09-14)September 14, 1894
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
DiedDecember 23, 1978(1978-12-23) (aged 84)
Boca Raton, Florida, United States
OccupationActress
Years active1914–1923

Barbara Castleton (September 14, 1894 – December 23, 1978) was an American silent film actress. Castleton appeared in motion pictures from 1914 through 1923, accumulating 28 screen credits.

Career

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Castleton was one of the lower echelon stars who made films for Samuel Goldwyn Studio, along with Cullen Landis, James Kirkwood, and Rowland Lee. The company's major stars were Madge Kennedy, Geraldine Farrar, Will Rogers, and Tom Moore. Her first performance as a film actress came in The Ordeal (1914). She had the lead in Branding Iron (1920), a film directed by Reginald Barker.

Personal life and death

Her first husband was George W. Zimmerman, an attorney from Vancouver, British Columbia. Castleton won a divorce suit from Zimmerman in October 1921 in Reno, Nevada. She contended that he gambled and lived beyond his income. The decree was granted on grounds of cruelty.

Castleton was a collector of furniture. In March 1923, she purchased a pair of early 17th century blue velvet armchairs with Van Dyke fringe and a 17th century octagonal walnut center table with an elaborately carved base. The pieces were purchased at the Dabissi sale of fine old furniture held at the American Art Galleries in New York City.

Castleton died in Boca Raton, Florida in 1978.

Filmography

Advertisement (1917)
Still from The Child Thou Gavest Me (1921) with Barbara Castleton (left) and Richard Headrick as the child Bobby.
Year Title Role Notes
1914 The Ordeal Alternative title: The Mothers of Liberty
1916 A Daughter of the Gods
1917 For the Freedom of the World Betty Milburn
Her Good Name Agnes Gurnee
God's Man Bertie
On Trial Mrs. Robert Strickland
Parentage Agnes Melton
Sins of Ambition Ruth Maxwell
1918 Empty Pockets Muriel Schuyler
Vengeance Lady Elsie Drillingcourt
The Heart of a Girl Betty Lansing
Heredity Nedda Trevor, as an adult Alternative title: The Blood of the Trevors
Just Sylvia Sylvia
1919 Peg o' My Heart Ethel Chicester *first filmed version of famous play produced by Famous Players–Lasky. It was never released due to copyright conflict with J. Hartley Manners and his wife Laurette Taylor. Taylor starred in a permitted version in 1922 for Metro Pictures directed by King Vidor
What Love Forgives
The Silver King
The Rough Neck Frances Alternative title: The Roughneck
The Man Who Turned White
Dangerous Hours May Weston
1920 Dangerous Days Audrey Valentine
Out of the Storm Margaret Hill
The Branding Iron Joan Carver
1921 The Child Thou Gavest Me Norma Huntley
1922 False Fronts Helen Baxter
What's Wrong with the Women? Janet Lee
The Streets of New York Lucy Bloodgood
My Friend the Devil Anna Ryder
1923 The Net Allayne Norman

References

  • Los Angeles Times, "Willard Mack to Wed", June 18, 1920, Page III4.
  • Los Angeles Times, "Barbara Castleton Wins Divorce Suit", October 9, 1921, II10.
  • Los Angeles Times, "Film Publicist's Memories", July 22, 1958, Page B4.
  • The New York Times, "Dabissi Art Brings $58,695", March 25, 1923, Page 17.