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{{short description|American actress}}
{{Short description|American actress (1899–1978)}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Winifred Westover
| name = Winifred Westover
| image = Westover-Winifred-01.jpg
| image = Winifredwestover.jpg
| alt =
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = Westover in the 1920s
| caption = Westover in ''[[Love (1919 American film)|Love]]'' (1919)
| birth_name =
| othername = Winnifred Westover <br>
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1899|11|9}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1899|11|09}}
| birth_place = [[San Francisco, California]]
| birth_place = [[San Francisco, California]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|3|19|1899|11|9}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|03|19|1899|11|09}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]
| death_place = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| resting_place = [[Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary|Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery]]
⚫
| years_active = 1916-1930
| othername = Winifred Heide, Winifred Hart
⚫
| spouse = [[William S. Hart]] (m.1921&ndash;div.1927)
| occupation = Actress
⚫
| years_active = 1916–1930
⚫
| spouse = {{marriage|[[William S. Hart]]|1921|1927|end=divorce}}
| children = 1
}}
}}


'''Winifred Westover''' (November 9, 1899 &ndash; March 19, 1978) was a Hollywood actress of the 1910s and 1920s.
'''Winifred Westover''', birth name Winifred Heide,<ref name="Heide">{{Cite web |title=The Los Angeles Times 16 Mar 1923, page 39 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/380406233/ |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> (November 9, 1899 &ndash; March 19, 1978) was an actress of the 1910s and 1920s. Her career included films made in Hollywood, Sweden and New York.<ref name="Married">Bill Hart Is Married Here, ''The Los Angeles Times'', December 8, 1921, page 25</ref>


==Early years==
==Early years==
Winifred Helena Heide was the daughter of Thomas C. Heide and Sophia Heide. On July 14, 1904 Sophia Heide filed for divorce on the grounds of cruelty, non-support, and desertion.<ref name="Heide"/> She later married Clyde C. Westover, a writer best known for his 1912 novel ''The Dragon’s Daughter''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The San Francisco Examiner 20 Oct 1912, page 63 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/457916590/ |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>
⚫
The daughter of Swedish parents, Westover was born in [[San Francisco]], California. Her schooling came at the Dominican Convent of San Rafael.<ref name=dfp>{{cite news|title=Given Chance After 8 Years|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18123312/winifred_westover/|work=Detroit Free Press|date=January 5, 1930|location=Michigan, Detroit|page=Part Four - Page 1|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = March 8, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>

⚫
When Winifred was thirteen years old she adopted her stepfather's last name.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Los Angeles Times 15 Mar 1923, page 19 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/380436683/ |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> She graduated from the [[Dominican University of California|Dominican College of San Rafael]].<ref name=dfp>{{cite news|title=Given Chance After 8 Years|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18123312/winifred_westover/|work=Detroit Free Press|date=January 5, 1930|location=Michigan, Detroit|page=Part Four - Page 1|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = March 8, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>


== Career ==
== Career ==
On screen, Westover was the typical blushing ingenue and was almost always cast opposite robust leading men. Her career in film started with a small part in [[D. W. Griffith]]'s [[Intolerance (film)|''Intolerance'']]<ref name="dfp" /> in 1916.
In 1915, Westover met [[D. W. Griffith]],<ref name="Dead">{{Cite web |title=Oakland Tribune 22 Mar 1978, page 19 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/735977618/ |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> and she was given several small roles in his epic 1916 film [[Intolerance (film)|''Intolerance'']].<ref>Winifred Westover Hart, Newsday (Melville, New York), March 22, 1978, page 42</ref>

In 1919, she starred in ''John Petticoats'' with western star [[William S. Hart]].<ref name=":0">John Petticoats Proves Bill Hart is Versatile Star, ''The Gadsden Times'' (Gadsden, Alabama, December 8, 1919, page 5</ref> Hart took an interest in Westover, and introduced her to Thora Holm, who was looking for an actress to make films in [[Sweden]].<ref name=":0" /> Westover went to [[Stockholm]] with her mother, and made three films there, before returning to the United States to make films in [[New York City|New York]].<ref name="Hart">Ronald L. Davis, ''William S. Hart'', pages 166-167 & 170, University of Oklahoma Press, 2003</ref>

==Marriage and birth of son==
[[File:John Petticoats (1919) - 1.jpg|thumb|William S. Hart and Winifred Westover in ''[[John Petticoats]]'']]
When Westover was working in New York City, William S. Hart came to see her, and escorted her to dinner and shows.<ref name="Hart" /> She was about to sign a five year film contract with [[Lewis J. Selznick]] when Hart sent her a [[Telegraphy|telegram]], telling her not to sign anything until she’d received a letter that he was mailing to her. The letter contained a marriage proposal; she telegraphed her acceptance.<ref name="Hart"/>

On December 7, 1921, Westover married Hart in Los Angeles. She was twenty-two years old, and Hart was fifty-seven.<ref name="Hart"/> The only guests at the ceremony were Westover’s mother, Hart’s sister Mary, and Hart's attorney.<ref name="Married"/> On the day of her wedding, Westover signed an agreement to retire from acting.<ref name="Return"/>

Westover moved into the house shared by Hart and his [[Disability|invalid]] sister, Mary. Only six months into the marriage, Hart told his pregnant wife to leave his home, and she went to live with her mother in Santa Monica.<ref name="Return"/> During the divorce hearing, Westover testified that Hart’s sister was the reason for the separation, and that her husband had insisted on keeping open the door that separated their bedroom from his sister’s room.<ref name="Dead"/>

The couple’s son, William S. Hart, Jr., was born on September 22, 1922. Hart went to see his child eight days later. On February 11, 1927, Westover was granted a divorce in [[Reno, Nevada]].<ref name="Hart"/> She received $100,000, with the understanding she would not return to acting or have her photograph published.<ref name="Return"/> A trust fund of $100,000 was established for her son, to be used for his support and education.<ref name="Hart"/> William S. Hart, Jr. grew up to become a professor of [[Land (economics)|land economics]] at the [[University of Southern California]].<ref name="Dead"/>

==''Lummox''==
[[File:Lummox.jpg|thumb|262x262px|1930 Lummox ad]]
Westover petitioned the court for the right to act under her maiden name, and she was allowed to return to work. She had read the [[Fannie Hurst]] novel ''Lummox'' and wanted to star in the film version. She contacted both Hurst and the film’s director, [[Herbert Brenon]], and was chosen for the role of Bertha Oberg in the 1930 film ''[[Lummox (film)|Lummox]]''.<ref name="Return">{{Cite web |title=The Boston Globe 30 Apr 1929, page 12 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/431270259/ |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>

In order to portray the heavyset servant, who’d been given the derogatory nickname of Lummox, Westover ate fatty food, avoided exercise, and gained forty pounds.<ref name=":1" /> To help her appear to be a person who worked long hours of wearying labor, the director gave her shoes soled with fifteen pounds of lead, and had her wear a dress with five pounds of lead weights in the collar, five pounds of lead in each of the sleeve cuffs, and ten pounds of weights in the hem of her skirt.<ref name=":1">Film Star Builds Up Her Weight By Strange Methods, ''Great Falls Tribune'' (Great Falls, Montana), June 30, 1929, p. 21</ref>


She received praise for her acting, with one newspaper stating: "Winifred Westover’s characterization of the buxom servant girl, whose little world has been the drab atmosphere of cheap lodging houses, shabby humanity, and cruel employers, reaches heights rarely ever attained."<ref>'Lummox' Takes Place With Screen’s Best, ''The Morning Call'' (Allentown, PA), February 9, 1930, page 9</ref>
[[File:Winifredwestover.jpg|thumb|]]
In 1919 she starred in ''John Petticoats'' with [[William S. Hart]], who proposed to her.<ref name="mtv.com">"mtv.com"</ref> They married on 7 December 1921 and had a son, William S. Hart Jr., in September 1922.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ogden|first1=Tom|title=Haunted Hollywood: Tinseltown Terrors, Filmdom Phantoms, and Movieland Mayhem|date=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781493015788|page=24|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yk8iCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA24&dq=%22Winifred+Westover%22+actress&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5uMrczvbZAhUJHqwKHRUlAskQ6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&q=%22Winifred%20Westover%22%20actress&f=false|accessdate=18 March 2018|language=en}}</ref> They separated in 1922 after three months of marriage<ref>"silentera.com</ref> and divorced in 1927.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Neibaur|first1=James L.|last2=Niemi|first2=Terri|title=Buster Keaton's Silent Shorts: 1920-1923|date=2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810887411|page=184|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ha8ezDdkin8C&pg=PA184&dq=%22Winifred+Westover%22+actress&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5uMrczvbZAhUJHqwKHRUlAskQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=%22Winifred%20Westover%22%20actress&f=false|accessdate=18 March 2018|language=en}}</ref> His behaviour was parodied in the 1922 [[Short film|short]] ''[[The Frozen North]]'' by [[Buster Keaton]].<ref name="silentera">{{cite web |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/F/FrozenNorth1922.html |title=Progressive Silent Film List: ''The Frozen North'' |accessdate=March 26, 2008|work=Silent Era}}</ref>


It has at times been incorrectly reported that she was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] for her performance in the film,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1978-03-22 |title=WINIFRED WESTOVER HART |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/22/archives/obituary-4-no-title.html |access-date=2023-03-29 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> but there is no record of such a nomination in the Academy Awards Database for the [[4th Academy Awards|1931 ceremony]].<ref>[https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1931 3rd Academy Awards]</ref>
Westover retired to raise her son in 1923 but made a comeback in 1930 with the help of her ex-husband. The film, a melodrama called ''Lummox,'' was her last;<ref name="bd" /> it was unsuccessful and she left her career in film.<ref name="mtv.com" />


==Death==
==Death==
On March 19, 1978, Westover died in Santa Monica, where she had been living with her son. She was buried at [[Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary|Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery]].<ref name="Dead"/>
On March 19, 1978, Westover died in [[Los Angeles]]. She was 78.<ref name="bd">{{cite book|last1=Katchmer|first1=George A.|title=A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786446933|page=394|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qkOeCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA394&dq=%22Winifred+Westover%22+actress&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5uMrczvbZAhUJHqwKHRUlAskQ6AEIOzAD#v=onepage&q=%22Winifred%20Westover%22%20actress&f=false|accessdate=18 March 2018|language=en}}</ref> She was survived by her son.<ref>{{cite news|title=Winifred Westover Hart|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/22/archives/obituary-4-no-title.html|accessdate=19 March 2018|work=The New York Times|agency=United Press International|date=March 22, 1978|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319005149/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/22/archives/obituary-4-no-title.html|url-status=dead|archivedate=19 March 2018|location=New York, New York City}}</ref>


==Selected filmography==
==Selected filmography==
Line 34: Line 59:
* ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916)
* ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916)
* ''Microscope Mystery'' (1916)
* ''Microscope Mystery'' (1916)
* ''[[The Matrimaniac]]'' (1916)
* ''{{ill|The Matrimaniac|cy||fi|Mamman vallan alla (vuoden 1916 elokuva)}}'' (1916)
* ''[[The Halfbreed]]'' (1916)
* ''[[The Half-Breed (1916 film)|The Half-Breed]]'' (1916)
* ''[[Jim Bludso]]'' (1917) - Kate Taggart
* ''[[Jim Bludso]]'' (1917) - Kate Taggart
* ''[[An Old-Fashioned Young Man]]'' (1917) - Mame Morton
* ''[[An Old-Fashioned Young Man]]'' (1917) - Mame Morton
Line 48: Line 73:
* ''[[The Village Sleuth]]'' (1920)
* ''[[The Village Sleuth]]'' (1920)
* ''[[Old Lady 31]]'' (1920) - Mary
* ''[[Old Lady 31]]'' (1920) - Mary
* ''The Fighter'' (1921)
* ''[[The Fighter (1921 film)|The Fighter]]'' (1921)
* ''[[Bucking the Tiger (film)|Bucking the Tiger]]'' (1921)
* ''[[Is Life Worth Living?]]'' (1921)
* ''[[Is Life Worth Living?]]'' (1921)
* ''[[Anne of Little Smoky]]'' (1921) - Anne
* ''[[Anne of Little Smoky]]'' (1921) - Anne
Line 67: Line 93:
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Actresses from California]]
[[Category:Actresses from San Francisco]]
[[Category:American silent film actresses]]
[[Category:American silent film actresses]]
[[Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:Dominican University of California alumni]]

Latest revision as of 21:45, 28 December 2023

Winifred Westover
Westover in the 1920s
Born(1899-11-09)November 9, 1899
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedMarch 19, 1978(1978-03-19) (aged 78)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeWestwood Memorial Park Cemetery
Other namesWinifred Heide, Winifred Hart
OccupationActress
Years active1916–1930
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1921; div. 1927)​
Children1

Winifred Westover, birth name Winifred Heide,[1] (November 9, 1899 – March 19, 1978) was an actress of the 1910s and 1920s. Her career included films made in Hollywood, Sweden and New York.[2]

Early years

[edit]

Winifred Helena Heide was the daughter of Thomas C. Heide and Sophia Heide. On July 14, 1904 Sophia Heide filed for divorce on the grounds of cruelty, non-support, and desertion.[1] She later married Clyde C. Westover, a writer best known for his 1912 novel The Dragon’s Daughter.[3]

When Winifred was thirteen years old she adopted her stepfather's last name.[4] She graduated from the Dominican College of San Rafael.[5]

Career

[edit]

In 1915, Westover met D. W. Griffith,[6] and she was given several small roles in his epic 1916 film Intolerance.[7]

In 1919, she starred in John Petticoats with western star William S. Hart.[8] Hart took an interest in Westover, and introduced her to Thora Holm, who was looking for an actress to make films in Sweden.[8] Westover went to Stockholm with her mother, and made three films there, before returning to the United States to make films in New York.[9]

Marriage and birth of son

[edit]
William S. Hart and Winifred Westover in John Petticoats

When Westover was working in New York City, William S. Hart came to see her, and escorted her to dinner and shows.[9] She was about to sign a five year film contract with Lewis J. Selznick when Hart sent her a telegram, telling her not to sign anything until she’d received a letter that he was mailing to her. The letter contained a marriage proposal; she telegraphed her acceptance.[9]

On December 7, 1921, Westover married Hart in Los Angeles. She was twenty-two years old, and Hart was fifty-seven.[9] The only guests at the ceremony were Westover’s mother, Hart’s sister Mary, and Hart's attorney.[2] On the day of her wedding, Westover signed an agreement to retire from acting.[10]

Westover moved into the house shared by Hart and his invalid sister, Mary. Only six months into the marriage, Hart told his pregnant wife to leave his home, and she went to live with her mother in Santa Monica.[10] During the divorce hearing, Westover testified that Hart’s sister was the reason for the separation, and that her husband had insisted on keeping open the door that separated their bedroom from his sister’s room.[6]

The couple’s son, William S. Hart, Jr., was born on September 22, 1922. Hart went to see his child eight days later. On February 11, 1927, Westover was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada.[9] She received $100,000, with the understanding she would not return to acting or have her photograph published.[10] A trust fund of $100,000 was established for her son, to be used for his support and education.[9] William S. Hart, Jr. grew up to become a professor of land economics at the University of Southern California.[6]

Lummox

[edit]
1930 Lummox ad

Westover petitioned the court for the right to act under her maiden name, and she was allowed to return to work. She had read the Fannie Hurst novel Lummox and wanted to star in the film version. She contacted both Hurst and the film’s director, Herbert Brenon, and was chosen for the role of Bertha Oberg in the 1930 film Lummox.[10]

In order to portray the heavyset servant, who’d been given the derogatory nickname of Lummox, Westover ate fatty food, avoided exercise, and gained forty pounds.[11] To help her appear to be a person who worked long hours of wearying labor, the director gave her shoes soled with fifteen pounds of lead, and had her wear a dress with five pounds of lead weights in the collar, five pounds of lead in each of the sleeve cuffs, and ten pounds of weights in the hem of her skirt.[11]

She received praise for her acting, with one newspaper stating: "Winifred Westover’s characterization of the buxom servant girl, whose little world has been the drab atmosphere of cheap lodging houses, shabby humanity, and cruel employers, reaches heights rarely ever attained."[12]

It has at times been incorrectly reported that she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film,[13] but there is no record of such a nomination in the Academy Awards Database for the 1931 ceremony.[14]

Death

[edit]

On March 19, 1978, Westover died in Santa Monica, where she had been living with her son. She was buried at Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery.[6]

Selected filmography

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "The Los Angeles Times 16 Mar 1923, page 39". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Bill Hart Is Married Here, The Los Angeles Times, December 8, 1921, page 25
  3. ^ "The San Francisco Examiner 20 Oct 1912, page 63". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  4. ^ "The Los Angeles Times 15 Mar 1923, page 19". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  5. ^ "Given Chance After 8 Years". Detroit Free Press. Michigan, Detroit. January 5, 1930. p. Part Four - Page 1. Retrieved March 8, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ a b c d "Oakland Tribune 22 Mar 1978, page 19". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  7. ^ Winifred Westover Hart, Newsday (Melville, New York), March 22, 1978, page 42
  8. ^ a b John Petticoats Proves Bill Hart is Versatile Star, The Gadsden Times (Gadsden, Alabama, December 8, 1919, page 5
  9. ^ a b c d e f Ronald L. Davis, William S. Hart, pages 166-167 & 170, University of Oklahoma Press, 2003
  10. ^ a b c d "The Boston Globe 30 Apr 1929, page 12". Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Film Star Builds Up Her Weight By Strange Methods, Great Falls Tribune (Great Falls, Montana), June 30, 1929, p. 21
  12. ^ 'Lummox' Takes Place With Screen’s Best, The Morning Call (Allentown, PA), February 9, 1930, page 9
  13. ^ "WINIFRED WESTOVER HART". The New York Times. March 22, 1978. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  14. ^ 3rd Academy Awards
[edit]
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