Bliss Milford

Bliss Milford
A young white woman with long loose wavy dark hair, in a side part. She has a dimpled chin.
Bliss Milford, from a 1915 publication
Born
Bliss Phoebe MacLaren

April 9, 1886
Hope, North Dakota, US
DiedJuly 29, 1970(1970-07-29) (aged 84)
Bronx, New York
Resting placeFerncliff Cemetery
Occupation(s)Actress, screenwriter, songwriter
Spouse(s)Karl Klein
Harry Beaumont (div.)
David Higgins (div.)
RelativesWilliam Edward McLaren (uncle)

Bliss Milford (born Bliss Phoebe MacLaren; April 9, 1886 – July 29, 1970)[1] was an American actress, screenwriter, songwriter and singer who was active in Hollywood during the silent era.[2][3][4]

Biography

Bliss McLaren was born in Hope, North Dakota, to attorney C. Milford MacLaren and actress Alma Gallinger.[5][6] She grew up primarily in Chicago, and became interested in acting when her family relocated to New York City later on;.[7] Her uncle, William Edward McLaren, was the archbishop of Chicago.[8]

When she became an actress at the age of 15 — appearing, at first, in minor roles on the stage in New York — she used her father's middle name as her last name for her film credits. She was under contract at Edison until 1914, at which point she moved to Kinetophone.[9]

She joined the company of actor and playwright David Higgins in the early 1900s, alongside her mother. Higgins and Bliss eventually married, despite their nearly 30-year age gap, but their partnership did not last.[10] Her 1915 marriage to filmmaker Harry Beaumont was similarly fated.[11] She eventually married Karl Klein in 1923, a marriage that lasted until Klein's death in the 1960s.

In addition to her work as an actress, screenwriter, and songwriter, she also served for a time on the board of directors of the Toledo School for Crippled Children.[10]

Little is known of her life after her film career came to an end. In addition to songwriting, she apparently sang contralto at a 1928 Washington D.C. opera recital.[12] She died July 29, 1970, in the Bronx and was cremated. Her ashes rest at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.[1]

Select filmography

References

  1. ^ a b Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons page 514 by Scott Wilson c.2016
  2. ^ "Gossip of the Stage". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 23 Feb 1909. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  3. ^ "Rare Treat to See Miss Milford Act". The Morning Post. 10 Sep 1909. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  4. ^ "The Empire". Hartford Courant. 18 Mar 1914. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  5. ^ "Entertainments". Star Tribune. 14 Oct 1907. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  6. ^ "Who Is She?". The Hope Pioneer. 12 Nov 1914. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  7. ^ "Flickertail Facts and Fancies". The Bottineau Courant. 13 Nov 1914. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  8. ^ "Bliss Milford: Writer of Popular Songs". The News-Herald. 27 Sep 1913. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  9. ^ "Popular Photoplayers—No. 38". Intelligencer Journal. 21 Dec 1914. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  10. ^ a b "Bliss Milford of Higgins Co". Buffalo Courier. 24 Dec 1908. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  11. ^ "Who's Married to Whom". The Columbia Record. 21 Mar 1915. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  12. ^ newspaper accounts of Bliss Milford singing contralto at Washington D.C. recital 1928