Beulah Booker

Beulah Booker
Beulah Booker, from a 1920 publication
Born	Beulah Elizabeth Booker December 27, 1899 Silverton, Colorado, U.S.
Died	September 17, 1973 (age 73) Oceanside, California, U.S.
Other names	Beulah Booker O'Hara, Beulah Booker O'Farrell
Occupation	Actress

Beulah Elizabeth Booker (December 27, 1899 – September 17, 1973)^[1][2] was an American actress in silent films.

Early life and education

Booker was born in Silverton, Colorado, the daughter of William Edward Booker and Marguerite "Gretchen" E. Brendel Booker. Her father was an English-born railroad engineer. She had an older brother, Lawrence.^[1]

Career

Beulah Booker in My Lady's Ankle (1920)

Booker, billed as "Little Miss Booker",^[3][4] had a short career in Hollywood, appearing in several films and shorts between 1917 and 1920. Her most prominent role was as Buster Keaton's love interest in his feature film debut, The Saphead (1920).^[5][6]

Beyond acting, Booker was interested in aviation,^[7] helped at a benefit canteen for war relief in 1918,^[8] and modeled with art and fresh produce for the Los Angeles Express.^[9][10][11] She entertained disabled veterans of World War I at a military hospital in 1920.^[12]

Films

• Officer Jerry and Jerry's Big Deal (1917, shorts), with George Ovey^[13]
• The Finger of Justice (1918)^[14]
• The Boomerang (1919)^[15]
• Tempest Cody, Kidnapper (1919)^[16]
• The Dwelling Place of Light (1920), based on a novel by Winston Churchill^[17]
• The Saphead (1920), also known as The New Henrietta^{[18] [19]}
• My Lady's Ankle (1920, short)
• The Ransom of Mack (1920, short)
• Monsieur Couperin (1920)^[20]

Personal life

Booker married twice. Her first husband was screenwriter and aviator Kenneth Anthony O'Hara; they married in 1918 and divorced in 1919.^[3][21][22] Her second husband was Thomas O'Farrell; they married in 1925,^[23] and lived in Newport Beach, Modjeska, and Encinitas. She died in 1973, at the age of 73, in Oceanside, California.^[2]

References

1. Some sources give her birth year as 1901; however, she appears as a 5-month-old child in the 1900 United States census, via Ancestry, pointing to a December 1899 birthdate. Also in this census return, her parents' names, brother's name, and place of birth.
2. Death date from the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, which also confirms the December 27, 1899 birthdate; via Ancestry.
3. "Airplane Enters Old Love Story". Oakland Tribune. October 24, 1919. p. 26 – via Internet Archive.
4. "Hubby Didn't Do Expected". The Los Angeles Times. 1919-06-10. p. 19. Retrieved 2024-07-30 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Maltin, Leonard (2015-09-29). Turner Classic Movies Presents Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965: Third Edition. Penguin. p. 597. ISBN 978-0-698-19729-9.
6. "The Saphead; Buster Keaton and William H. Crane Co-star for Metro". Dramatic Mirror and Theatre World. 83: 459. March 12, 1921.
7. "Pretty Aviatrix Hopes to Fly for Flag and Country". Los Angeles Herald. November 26, 1917. p. 1 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
8. "Canteen for War Relief at Mason's". Los Angeles Herald. August 31, 1918. p. 12 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
9. "Ancient War Weapon of Hindus is Now Ornament at Exposition Park Museum". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1918-02-16. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-07-30 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Polychrome Dog of Kang-Hi Period 1660-1736, New Attraction at Exposition Park Museum". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1918-02-23. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-07-30 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "World's Finest Apples to be Shown at Yucaipa Exhibition". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1917-10-27. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-07-30 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Girls Entertain Wounded Heroes". Los Angeles Herald. March 12, 1920. pp. Section 2, page 1 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
13. "Mary MacLaren Film Finished". Motion Picture News. 16 (11): 1848. September 15, 1917 – via Internet Archive.
14. Pilkington, Maude C. "The Finger of Justice" Sunset 39(6)(December 1917): 24-25.
15. The American Film Institute film catalog of motion pictures produced in the United States : feature films, 1911-1920. Internet Archive. Berkeley : University of California Press. 1988. pp. 89, 233, 278, 802. ISBN 978-0-520-06301-3.
16. Braff, Richard E. (1999). The Universal silents : a filmography of the Universal Motion Picture Manufacturing Company, 1912-1929. Internet Archive. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland. p. 485. ISBN 978-0-7864-0287-8 – via Internet Archive.
17. "Who's Where on Los Angeles Screens". Camera: 6. April 16, 1921 – via Internet Archive.
18. Fischer, Lucy (2009). American Cinema of the 1920s: Themes and Variations. Rutgers University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8135-4485-4.
19. "Cummings and Booker in New Metro Play". The Moving Picture World: 451. April 17, 1920 – via Internet Archive.
20. "Anderson Begins on 'Monsieur Couperin'". The Moving Picture World: 127. April 3, 1920 – via Internet Archive.
21. "Marriages". Variety. 52 (4): 10. September 20, 1918 – via Internet Archive.
22. "Beulah Booker in Films". The Los Angeles Times. September 19, 1919. p. 4 – via Internet Archive.
23. "Marriage Licenses". Daily News. 1925-08-28. p. 22. Retrieved 2024-07-30 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Beulah Booker at IMDb
• The Saphead (1920), on Internet Archive