Josephine Bonaparte Crowell[1] (January 11,[citation needed] 1859[2]– July 27, 1932) was a Canadian film actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 90 films between 1912 and 1929.
Biography
Crowell was born in Barrington, Nova Scotia, the only child of Captain Nathan Crowell and Susan E. Shepherd.[3][4]
Crowell debuted in the theater in 1879,[5] and she appeared on Broadway as Mrs. Pitcher in Captain Mollhy (1902).[6] She began her film acting career in the 1912 film The School Teacher and the Waif. By 1919, she had appeared in 50 films, many of which were film shorts. Her notable film appearances during this period were in the early films of D.W. Griffith, including her portrayals of Mrs. Cameron in the controversial 1915 historical drama The Birth of a Nation and Catherine de' Medici in the 1916 historical epic Intolerance. In 1920, she appeared with Gladys Brockwell in Flames of the Flesh, followed by another six film appearances that year. From 1921 until 1929, she had 34 more film appearances, including Hot Water in which she played Harold Lloyd's mother-in-law and The Splendid Crime starring Bebe Daniels in 1925.
Her last role was in the 1929 film Wrong Again, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. With the coming of sound films, her career abruptly ended. She had married actor Emile La Croix earlier in her career,[7] and was residing in Amityville, New York at the time of her death.
