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Betty Balfour

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This article is about the film actress. For the suffragette and politician, seeBetty Balfour (suffragette).

Betty Balfour
Born
Florence Lilian Woods

(1902-03-27)27 March 1902
London,England
Died4 November 1977(1977-11-04)(aged 75)
Weybridge,Surrey,England
OccupationActress
Years active1920–1945
Spouse
​
​
(m.1931;div.1941)​

Betty Balfour(bornFlorence Lilian Woods;27 March 1902 – 4 November 1977)[1]was an English screen actress, popular during thesilent era,and known as the "BritishMary Pickford"and" Britain's Queen of Happiness ". She was best known to audiences for herSquibsseries of films.

Life and career

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Balfour was the most popular actress in Britain in the 1920s, and in 1927 she was named by theDaily Mirroras the country's favourite world star. Her talent was most evident in theSquibscomedy series produced byGeorge Pearson,while in hisLove, Life and Laughter(1923), rediscovered in 2014, andReveille(1924), she demonstrated a serious side to her character. Her role as a wealthy heiress inSomebody's Darling(1925) was an attempt to break out of her previous role as Squibs, to avoidtypecasting.[2]

She made her stage debut in 1913, and was appearing inMedoraat theAlhambra Theatrein Leicester Square when T. A. Welsh andPearsonsaw and signed her forNothing Else Mattersin 1920. After replacingGertrude Lawrenceon stage inThe Midnight Follies,Balfour was back with Pearson with her first starring role inMary Find the Gold.

In 1916 she starred in Fred Karno's all female revue, 'All Women,' notable at the time for its all female cast, including stage manager, musical director and advanced agent.

Balfour made no attempt to break intoHollywoodbut likeIvor Novelloshe was able to export her talents to mainland Europe. She starred in theGermanfilms,Die sieben Töchter der Frau GyurkovicsandDie Regimentstochter;she also worked forMarcel L'HerbierinLe Diable au cœur,forLouis MercantoninCroquetteandLa Petite Bonne du palace,and forGéza von BolváryinBright Eyes.

Back in Britain, she also starred inAlfred Hitchcock'sChampagne(1928). Balfour's sound debut,Walter Summers' musicalRaise the Roof,released in February 1930, was a sizable hit, but her second talkie, Mercanton'sThe Nipper,based on theSquibscharacter and released the following August, was only moderately successful. She then didn't appear in a film for four years, after which she played a supporting role toJessie MatthewsinVictor Saville'sEvergreen(1934). She then made a musical remake ofSquibs,directed byHenry Edwards,appeared withJohn MillsinWalter FordeandAnthony Asquith'sForever England(1935), and played the matriarch inHenry Cass'29 Acacia Avenue(1945).

Balfour had less fortune in her private life. Her marriage to composerJimmy Campbellwent on the rocks in 1941 after ten years and an attempt of a comeback on the stage failed in 1952. She died at age 75 inWeybridge,Surrey.

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^Betty Balfour,Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Retrieved 17 November 2020
  2. ^Macnab, Geoffrey (2000).Searching for Stars: Stardom and Screen Acting in British Cinema.London: Cassell. p. 56.ISBN978-0-304-33352-3.
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