Silent Film Star Bookplates -Part One

When television sets first  become available to the general public in the late 1940's there were a number of silent films shown because there just was not enough original content to feed the TV monster..I was hooked on those early silent flicks and to this day I actively purchase  silent film star bookplates.Not every bookplate I will include today is from the library of a silent film star .Some of these entertainers had long careers and some were not even in silent films but many started in silent films.
If you want to read more about this collecting niche   I would recommend:

The 1930 Year Book of The American Society of Bookplate Collectors and Designers .
It has a 15 page article by Hattie Gray Baker  about motion picture bookplates.

Morris Ankrum (1896-1964) was a character actor whose film career spanned thirty years (mostly B films)
For instance, He appeared in Invaders From Mars, Rocket ship X-M  and Cattle Queen of Montana.

7/25/2011  Additional information fromKate Doordan Klavin

"Morris Ankrum became a fixture of 1950-60's television, courtesy of the early Perry Mason shows. Ankrum was ubiquitous (if relatively quiet) as a judge who frequently presided over Perry's cases. In fact, with 22 portrayals refereeing Perry and DA Hamilton Burger, he was among the actors who appeared most often on the series other than the regular cast members."

7/26/2010

Excellent blog posting about Hollywood homes and bookplates by Steve Vaught

http://paradiseleased.wordpress.com/2011/06/03/bookpl

77/27/2011  Another excellent link about Hollywood bookplates:
http://www.readinkbooks.com/home/bookplatehollywood.htm

Photo shows Lionel Atwell (1885-1946) with his second wife Elsie Mackay. His bookplate was designed by Bank Gordon.

Here is a film clip with Richard Barthelmess 1895-1963) and Lillian Gish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06m6aqHwUiw

Marie Anne Boland (1882-1965) American stage and film actress

Mary Louise Brooks (1925-1938) was an actress ,model and dancer.Here is a film clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk7hLN44-uM

Theo Bikel is a character actor, folk singer and musician.He made his film debut in The African Queen and was nominated for an academy award for his supporting role as Sheriff Max Muller in The Defiant Ones.
It took me over thirty five  years to get this bookplate.I wrote to him back when celebrities responded to inquiries. He wrote back that he had used a bookplate at one time but no longer knew where they were.
This copy was in a recently purchased collection.

Harrison K Ford1884-1957)

Florence Eldridge(1901-1988)

On my next posting I will be adding more silent film star bookplates.
 If you wish to add biographical information about any of these stars or send scans of similar bookplates from your own collection my contact address is Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

See you next Sunday.