WAMPAS Baby Stars
The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States which honored thirteen young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. They were selected from 1922 to 1934, and annual awardees were honored at a party called the "WAMPAS Frolic". Those selected were given extensive media coverage.
The awards were not given in 1930 and 1933. They ended after 1934, due to objections from the movie studios because of the independence of the advertisers in promoting people different from those the studios wanted to raise.
List of WAMPAS Baby Stars
- 1922: Marion Aye, Helen Ferguson, Lila Lee, Jacqueline Logan, Louise Lorraine, Bessie Love, Kathryn McGuire, Patsy Ruth Miller, Colleen Moore, Mary Philbin, Pauline Starke, Lois Wilson, Claire Windsor
- 1923: Eleanor Boardman, Evelyn Brent, Dorothy Devore, Virginia Browne Faire, Betty Francisco, Pauline Garon, Kathleen Key, Laura La Plante, Margaret Leahy, Helen Lynch, Derelys Perdue, Jobyna Ralston, Ethel Shannon
- 1924: Clara Bow, Elinor Fair, Carmelita Geraghty, Gloria Grey, Ruth Hiatt, Julanne Johnston, Hazel Keener, Dorothy Mackaill, Blanche Mehaffey, Margaret Morris, Marian Nixon, Lucille Ricksen, Alberta Vaughn
- 1925: Betty Arlen, Violet La Plante, Olive Borden, Anne Cornwall, Ena Gregory, Madeline Hurlock, Natalie Joyce, June Marlowe, Joan Meredith, Evelyn Peirce, Dorothy Revier, Duane Thompson, Lola Todd
- 1926: Mary Astor, Mary Brian, Joyce Compton, Dolores Costello, Joan Crawford, Marceline Day, Dolores del Río, Janet Gaynor, Sally Long, Edna Marion, Sally O'Neil, Vera Reynolds, Fay Wray
- 1927: Patricia Avery, Rita Carewe, Helene Costello, Barbara Kent, Natalie Kingston, Frances Lee, Mary McAllister, Gladys McConnell, Sally Phipps, Sally Rand, Martha Sleeper, Iris Stuart, Adamae Vaughn
- 1928: Lina Basquette, Flora Bramley, Sue Carol, Ann Christy, June Collyer, Alice Day, Sally Eilers, Audrey Ferris, Dorothy Gulliver, Gwen Lee, Molly O'Day, Ruth Taylor, Lupe Vélez
- 1929: Jean Arthur, Sally Blane, Betty Boyd, Ethlyne Clair, Doris Dawson, Josephine Dunn, Helen Foster, Doris Hill, Caryl Lincoln, Anita Page, Mona Rico, Helen Twelvetrees, Loretta Young
- 1930: (none)
- 1931: Joan Blondell, Constance Cummings, Frances Dade, Frances Dee, Sidney Fox, Rochelle Hudson, Anita Louise, Joan Marsh, Marian Marsh, Karen Morley, Marion Shilling, Barbara Weeks, Judith Wood
- 1932: Lona Andre, Lilian Bond, Mary Carlisle, June Clyde, Patricia Ellis, Ruth Hall, Eleanor Holm, Evalyn Knapp, Dorothy Layton, Boots Mallory, Toshia Mori, Ginger Rogers, Marian Shockley, Gloria Stuart, Dorothy Wilson
- 1933: (none)
- 1934: Judith Arlen, Betty Bryson, Jean Carmen, Helen Cohan, Dorothy Drake, Jean Gale, Hazel Hayes, Ann Hovey, Lucille Lund, Lu Ann Meredith, Gigi Parrish, Jacqueline Wells, Katherine Williams.
As of 2011
As of January 5, 2011, only Mary Carlisle and Barbara Kent are known to still be alive, following the death of actress Gloria Stuart on September 26, 2010.
Further reading
- The Wampas Baby Stars: A Biographical Dictionary, 1922-1934 (ISBN 0-7864-0756-5) includes biographies of every actress selected, including lists of films in which she appeared.