Laura Anson McCullough (January 2, 1892 – July 15, 1968), born Lura Lillian Kuhlman, was an American actress in silent films, mostly Westerns and crime dramas.
Laura Anson | |
|---|---|
_Anson_LCCN2014712002_(cropped).jpg) Laura Anson in a costume fringed with ostrich feathers, 1921 | |
| Born | Lura Lillian Kuhlman January 2, 1892 Nebraska City, Nebraska |
| Died | July 15, 1968 (age 76) Woodland Hills, California |
| Other names | Pauline Anson, Pauline McCullough, Lura McCullough |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouse | Philo McCullough |
Early life and education
editLura Kuhlman was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska, the daughter of Adolph J. Kuhlman and Barbara Alleman Kuhlman. Her father was a businessman.[1][2] Both of her parents moved to Los Angeles[3] in 1920; they both died, at her residence, in 1923 and 1924.[4][5]
Career
editAnson was a stage actress as a young woman.[6] She moved to Los Angeles by 1920,[7][8] and appeared in about a dozen silent films between 1920 and 1923, mostly Westerns and crime dramas. Her co-stars included Roscoe Arbuckle, Lila Lee, Thomas Meighan, Pauline Starke, Richard Dix, and Buck Jones.[9] She worked with Cecil B. DeMille, Tom Forman, Charles Maigne, and Scott R. Dunlap, among other directors and producers.[10]
Anson's style was a matter of press interest. In 1920 she experimented with using henna coloring instead of hosiery (so that her legs and feet were, except for the henna and some sandals, bare). "Why, I just got tired of paying out a lot of money for silk stockings," she explained, "and finally solved a way to cut them out."[6] In 1921, her ostrich feather-trimmed lingerie made the news.[8]
Films
edit- Sweet Lavender (1920)[2]
- The Easy Road (1921)[11]
- The Little Clown (1921)
- The Affairs of Anatol (1921)[1]
- Crazy to Marry (1921)[1]
- Bluebeard, Jr. (1922)
- The Great Alone (1922)[12]
- If You Believe It, It's So (1922)[13]
- Flames of Passion (1923)[14]
- Skid Proof (1923)[10]
- The Silent Partner (1923)
- The Call of the Canyon (1923)
- The Way of the Transgressor (1923)[13]
Personal life
editKuhlman married three times. Her first husband was Roy J. Anderson; they married in Iowa in 1910, and soon divorced. Her second husband was dentist John Franklin Anson;[15] they married in Nebraska in 1913 in Nebraska, and she used his surname professionally after they divorced in 1921.[2] She married fellow actor Philo McCullough in 1939, in Arizona. She was also named as party in the 1921–1922 divorce of director Jacques Jaccard and actress Helen Leslie.[1][16] She died in 1968, at the age of 76, in Woodland Hills, California.[17] Her grave is in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.[18]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Laura Anson is Named in Divorce Case in California". The Nebraska Daily Press. 1921-12-02. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-07-12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Laura Anson Movie Star Obtains Second Divorce". Nemaha County Herald. 1921-06-17. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Move to Pacific Coast". Nemaha County Herald. 1920-07-02. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Death of A. J. Kuhlman Occurs in California". Nemaha County Herald. 1923-03-16. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dies in Hollywood, Calif". Nemaha County Herald. 1924-08-01. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "New York Gasped When it Looked and Looked". Nemaha County Herald. 1920-11-19. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Girl Well Known Here Rises at a Movie Star". Nemaha County Herald. 1920-06-04. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Ostrich Feathers on 'Undies'". The Evening Sun. 1921-01-11. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-07-12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Katchmer, George A. (2015-05-20). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-4766-0905-8.
- ^ a b Solomon, Aubrey (2014-01-10). The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography. McFarland. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-7864-8610-6.
- ^ "Laura Kuhlman Anson Now Playing Major Role". Nemaha County Herald. 1921-06-17. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Will 'Shoot' Snow Scenes in Canadian Wilderness". Nemaha County Herald. 1921-11-25. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-07-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Langman, Larry; Finn, Daniel (1994-01-30). A Guide to American Silent Crime Films. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 135, 295. ISBN 978-0-313-28858-6.
- ^ Sherwood, Robert Emmet (1923). The Best Moving Pictures of 1922-23, Also Who's who in the Movies and the Yearbook of the American Screen. Small, Maynard. p. 165.
- ^ "Mrs. Anson Here; Refuses to Talk". The Omaha Daily News. 1921-06-26. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Women in the News". The Dayton Herald. 1922-01-21. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-07-12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Star of Silent Films is Dead at 76". Arizona Daily Star. 1968-07-17. p. 26. Retrieved 2023-07-12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Comedienne of Silents Dies at 76". The Los Angeles Times. 1968-07-17. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-07-12 – via Newspapers.com.