Viola Barry

Viola Barry
File:PearcePeggy01.jpg
Born	Gladys Viola Wilson
Other names	Peggy Pearce
Occupation	Film actress
Spouse	John Conway (1911 – 1918)

Viola Barry (June 4, 1894 - April 2, 1964) was an American silent film actress.

Biography

She was born Gladys Viola Wilson in Evanston, Illinois the daughter of Jackson Stitt Wilson. She moved with her family to Berkeley, California where her father would become the socialist mayor from 1911-1913.

In 1910, Barry signed with the Belasco Theater Company to be their new ingénue. Prior to this, she had four years of stage experience, two of these with Benson's Shakespearean Company in England. Among the heroines she played were Viola, Juliet, Portia, and Rosalind. Her first appearance with the Belasco company was in The Test by Jules Eckert Goodman.

She was in motion pictures from 1911 through 1920. Her early screen credits include The Totem Mask, The Voyager: A Tale of Old Canada, McKee Rankin's '49, John Oakhurst, Gambler, An Indian Vestal, Coals of Fire, A Painter's Idyl, The Chief's Daughter, George Warrington's Escape, and Evangeline. All these were completed in her first year in movies.

In February 1911, Barry married John Conway (aka actor and film director Jack Conway) of the Bison Moving Picture Company in Santa Ana, California. They had one daughter, Rosemary. The couple divorced in 1918. Barry subsequently married screenwriter Frank McGrew Willis with whom she had four more children: Virginia, Gloria, McGrew, and James.

Viola Barry Willis died in 1964 in Hollywood, California. She was buried at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.

Selected filmography

• Help! Help! Hydrophobia! (1913)
• The Mothering Heart (1913)
• The Ranchero's Revenge (1913)
• The Lady and the Mouse (1913)
• A Misunderstood Boy (1913)
• A Frightful Blunder (1913)
• Peeping Pete (1913)
• Twixt Love and Fire (1914)
• His Favourite Pastime (1914)
• Ace of the Saddle (1919)
• Sex (1920)

References

• Los Angeles Times, "Viola Barry at Belasco", November 24, 1910, Page II6.
• Los Angeles Times, "No Failure For Them", February 27, 1911, Page II3.
• Los Angeles Times, "Rites Held for Star of Silent Films", April 7, 1964, Page 32.

External links

• ‹The template AllMovie name is being considered for deletion.› Viola Barry at AllMovie
• Viola Barry at the TCM Movie Database

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