Bebe Daniels

Bebe Daniels
Bebe Daniels in 1925
Born	Phyllis Virginia Daniels January 14, 1901(1901-01-14) Dallas, Texas, United States
Died	March 16, 1971(1971-03-16) (aged 70) London, England, UK
Other names	Bebe Lyon
Occupation	Actress, dancer, singer, producer, writer
Years active	1910–1960
Spouse	Ben Lyon (1930-1971)

Bebe Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer.

She began her career in Hollywood during the silent movie era as a child actress, became a star in musicals like 42nd Street, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain. In a long career, Bebe Daniels made over 230 films.

Early life and career

Daniels was born Phyllis Virginia Daniels (Bebe was a childhood nickname) in Dallas, Texas. Her father was a theater manager and her mother a stage actress. The family moved to Los Angeles, California in her childhood and she began her acting career at the age of four in the first version of The Squaw Man. That same year she also went on tour in a stage production of Shakespeare's Richard III. The following year she participated in productions by Morosooa and David Belasco.

By the age of seven Daniels had her first starring role in film as the young heroine in A Common Enemy. At the age of nine she starred as Dorothy Gale in the 1910 short film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At the age of fourteen she starred opposite film comedian Harold Lloyd in a series of Lonesome Luke two-reel comedies starting with the 1915 film Giving Them Fits. The two eventually developed a publicized romantic relationship and were known in Hollywood as "The Boy" and "The Girl."

In 1919, she decided to move to greater dramatic roles and accepted a contract offering from Cecil B. DeMille, who gave her secondary roles in such films as Male and Female (1919), Why Change Your Wife? (1920), and The Affairs of Anatol (1921).

Later life and career

Publicity photo, circa 1924

In the 1920s, Daniels was under contract with Paramount Pictures. She became an adult star by 1922 and by 1924 was playing opposite Rudolph Valentino in Monsieur Beaucaire. Following this she was cast in a number of light popular films, namely Miss Bluebeard, The Manicure Girl, and Wild Wild Susan. Paramount dropped her contract with the advent of talking pictures. Daniels was hired by Radio Pictures (later known as RKO) to star in one of their biggest productions of the year. She also starred in the 1929 talkie Rio Rita. It proved to be one of the most successful films of that year, and Bebe Daniels found herself a star and RCA Victor hired her to record several records for their catalog. As many stars of her day, she used the therapeutic services of Sylvia of Hollywood to stay in shape for her performances.

Radio Pictures starred her in a number of musicals including Dixiana (1930) and Love Comes Along (1930). Towards the end of 1930, Bebe Daniels appeared in the musical comedy Reaching for the Moon. However, by this time musicals had gone out of fashion so that most of the musical numbers from the film had to be removed before it could be released. Daniels had become associated with musicals and so Radio Pictures did not renew her contract. Warner Brothers realized what a box office draw she was and offered her a contract which she accepted. During her years at Warner Brothers she starred in such pictures as My Past (1931), Honor of the Family (1931) and the extremely successful 1931 pre-code version of The Maltese Falcon, which opened to rave reviews. In 1932, she appeared in Silver Dollar (1932) and the successful Busby Berkeley choreographed musical comedy 42nd Street (1933) in which she sang once again. That same year she played opposite John Barrymore in Counsellor-At-Law. Her last film for the Warner Brothers was Registered Nurse (1934).

She retired from Hollywood in 1935. With her husband, film actor Ben Lyon, whom she married in 1930, she moved to London. A few years later, Daniels starred in the London production of Panama Hattie in the title role originated by Ethel Merman. The Lyons then did radio shows for the BBC. Most notably, they starred in the series Hi Gang, continuing for decades and enjoying considerable popularity during World War II. Daniels wrote most of the dialogue for the Hi Gang radio show. The couple remained through the days of the The Blitz.

Following the war, Daniels was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Harry S. Truman for war service. In 1945 she returned to Hollywood for a short time to work as a film producer for Hal Roach and Eagle Lion. She returned to the UK in 1948 and lived there for the remainder of her life. Daniels, her husband, her son Richard and her daughter Barbara all starred in the radio sitcom Life With The Lyons (1951 to 1961), which later made the transition to television.

Death

On March 16, 1971, Daniels died of a cerebral hemorrhage in London at the age of 70. Her remains were cremated at London's Golders Green Crematorium and the ashes brought home where she was interred in the Chapel columbarium at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Selected filmography

This 1921 Vanity Fair caricature by Ralph Barton shows the famous people who, he imagined, left work each day in Hollywood; use cursor to identify individual figures.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1910	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz	Dorothy Gale
1910	Justinian and Theodora
1911	A Counterfeit Santa Claus
1913	The Savage	Bit part
1914	Anne of the Golden Heart
1915	Bughouse Bellhops
1915	Ruses, Rhymes and Roughnecks
1916	Lonesome Luke Leans to the Literary
1916	Luke, the Candy Cut-Up
1917	Bliss	The Girl
1917	All Aboard	The Girl
1918	The Non-Stop Kid	Miss Wiggle
1918	Two-Gun Gussie	The Girl
1919	Don't Shove	Bebe
1919	Male and Female	The King's Favourite
1920	Why Change Your Wife?	Sally Clark
1920	Sick Abed	Nurse Durant
1920	You Never Can Tell	Rowena Patricia Jones	extant; Library of Congress
1921	Two Weeks with Pay	Pansy O'Donnell/Marie La Tour
1921	The March Hare	Lisbeth Ann Palmer
1922	A Game Chicken	Inez Hastings
1922	Singed Wings	Bonita della Guerda
1923	The World's Applause	Corinne d'Alys
1923	Hollywood	Herself (cameo)
1924	Daring Youth	Alita Allen
1924	Heritage of the Desert	Mescal
1924	Sinners In Heaven	Barbara Stockley
1925	Wild, Wild Susan	Susan Van Dusen
1925	The Manicure Girl	Maria Maretti
1926	The Palm Beach Girl	Emily Bennett
1926	Miss Brewster's Millions	Polly Brewster
1927	Swim Girl, Swim	Alice Smith
1927	Señorita	Señorita Francesca Hernandez
1927	She's a Sheik	Zaida
1928	Feel My Pulse	Barbara Manning
1928	Take Me Home	Peggy Lane
1929	Rio Rita	Rita Ferguson
1930	Reaching for the Moon (film)	Vivien Benton
1930	Dixiana	Dixiana Caldwell
1931	The Maltese Falcon	Ruth Wonderly
1932	Silver Dollar	Lily Owens Martin
1933	Counsellor at Law	Regina "Rexy" Gordon
1933	42nd Street	Dorothy Brock
1936	Treachery on the High Seas	May Hardy	Alternative title: Not Wanted on Voyage
1938	The Return of Carol Deane	Carol Deane
1941	Hi Gang!	The Liberty Girl
1947	The Fabulous Joe	-	Producer
1954	Life with the Lyons	Bebe Lyon	Alternative title: Family Affair
1955	The Lyons in Paris	Bebe	Alternative titles: Mr. and Mrs. in Paree The Lyons Abroad
1955–1960	Life with the Lyons	Bebe Lyon	Unknown episodes, producer, writer

References

• The Times, Bebe Daniels American star who made a hit on British radio, March 17, 1971, Page 18.

External links

• Bebe Daniels at the Internet Movie Database
• Bebe Daniels at the TCM Movie Database
• Bebe Daniels at AllRovi
• Bebe Daniels Photo Galleries
• Good Little Bad Girl: Bebe Daniels
• Photographs and bibliography