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Edythe Sterling

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Edythe Sterling
A smiling young white woman wearing a dark hat and a shimmery coat
Edythe Sterling, from a 1916 publication
Born
Edith May Kessinger

October 1893
Leavenworth, Kansas
DiedJune 5, 1962 (age 68)
Los Angeles, California
Other namesEdythe Acord, Edythe Sterling-Billingsley, Edythe Younger
OccupationActress
Spouse(s)Art Acord, Milo Billingsley, Clifford L. Younger

Edythe Sterling (October 1893[1] – June 5, 1962), born Edith May Kessinger, was an American actress, stunt rider, and producer in silent films, mainly Westerns.

Early life and education

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Edith May Kessinger was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, the daughter of John Letcher Kessinger and Nettie Ryherd Kessinger. She left Kansas at age 15, to seek a career on the stage.[2]

Career

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Sterling appeared in dozens of silent films from 1913 to 1923, many of them shorts or westerns,[3] including The Girl from Texas (1914), A Cattle Queen's Romance (1915), The Ghost Wagon (1915),[4] The Secret Man (1917) with Harry Carey, The Arizona Cat Claw (1919),[4] The One-Way Trail (1919),[5] Call of the West (1920), The Cowboy's Sweetheart (1920), The Fiddler of the Little Big Horn (1920), The Stranger of Canyon Valley (1922),[6] Crimson Gold (1923) and Danger (1923).[4]

Sterling had her own production company, and often had very active roles in her films, riding, fighting, shooting, and working with large animals.[7][8][9] For example, in The Girl Who Dared (1920), she plays a sheriff in a western town, battling cattle rustlers.[10] In The One-Way Trail (1919), she rescues her male co-star.[8][11] In another picture, Nancy's Birthright (1916), her title character struggles to overcome inherited "criminal tendencies".[12]

After her screen career ended, Sterling turned to live performances of riding stunts, for example in a "wild west" show in Los Angeles in 1923,[13] and a vaudeville act in 1924.[14][15] She also served a short jail sentence in Pasadena in 1923, for speeding and contempt of court.[16] She toured as director and "interpreter"[17] for a band of Hopi dancers from 1926 into the 1930s.[18][19][20] She traveled with a pet Arizona kit fox on these tours.[21]

Personal life

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Sterling married fellow actor Art Acord in 1913;[22] they divorced in 1919.[23][24] In 1920 and 1921, there was a scandal when she and her married manager, L. T. Osborne, presented themselves as a married couple while traveling.[25][26] In 1926 she married Milo William Billingsley, a theatrical producer; they later divorced.[19] Her last husband was Clifford L. Younger. She died in 1962, at the age of 68, in Los Angeles, California. Her grave is in Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Sterling's birth year varies in sources, from 1886 to 1896. She is recorded in her parents' Kansas household as a six-year-old in the 1900 census, and her birthdate is given as October 1893; via Ancestry.
  2. ^ "Mrs. Kessinger Has No Word of Hasty Marriage". The Leavenworth Times. 1913-07-24. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ McGowan, John J. (2005-01-01). J.P. McGowan: Biography of a Hollywood Pioneer. McFarland. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-7864-1994-4.
  4. ^ a b c Langman, Larry (1992-10-20). A Guide to Silent Westerns. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 9, 71, 75, 94, 96, 103, 140, 171, 173, 175. ISBN 978-0-313-27858-7.
  5. ^ Meniketti, Marco (2020-06-05). Timber, Sail, and Rail: An Archaeology of Industry, Immigration, and the Loma Prieta Mill. Berghahn Books. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-78920-727-9.
  6. ^ "Film Honors Go to Equestrienne; Riding of Edyth Sterling Furnishes Thrills in Western Drama". The Spokesman-Review. 1924-08-27. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Edythe Sterling". The Moving Picture World. 26 (1): 66. October 2, 1915.
  8. ^ a b Swift, Carolyn (2020-10-18). "Pictures from the Past: One Way Trail". TPG Online Daily. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  9. ^ "Giant Pachyderm Tests Tire Tube". San Francisco Call. February 3, 1917. p. 7. Retrieved August 5, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  10. ^ "The Girl Who Dared". The Maui News. 1922-05-05. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-08-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Edythe Sterling at the Victor". The Akron Beacon Journal. 1920-07-13. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Edythe Sterling in a 4-Part Master at Lyceum". The Leavenworth Post. 1916-06-07. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Grocers Will be Thrilled by New Stunt at Rodeo". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1923-09-07. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Edythe Sterling Rides a White Horse on Cabrillo Stage as Vaudeville Headliner". News-Pilot. 1924-02-09. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Western Girl of Movie Fame Directs Traffic". The Daily Item. 1924-07-29. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Edythe Sterling Is Jailed for Contempt After Auto Speeding". Press-Telegram. 1923-07-14. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Edythe Sterling, Hopi Indian Interpreter and Indian Worker, Former Screen Star, now at Victoria". Shamokin News-Dispatch. 1927-03-04. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Band of Hopi Indians Coming Here Saturday; Edythe Sterling Billngsley to Accompany Tribe to Fremont". The News-Messenger. 1932-03-23. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ a b Medley, R. John; Ellis, Catherine H. (2018). "Enterprising Hopi: M. W. Billingsley, Shriners, and Second Mesa Hopi". The Journal of Arizona History. 59 (4): 339–376. ISSN 0021-9053. JSTOR 45217465.
  20. ^ "Indian Dancers from Hopi Tripe to Appear Here". The Daily Tar Heel. 1928-01-14. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Visit President". Arizona Republic. 1930-01-12. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Weds 'The Dearest'; Edith Kessinger Notifies Mother of Big Event". The Leavenworth Times. 1913-07-25. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Edythe Sterling Says When Love is Dead, It's Dead". Los Angeles Herald. July 24, 1919. p. 1. Retrieved August 5, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  24. ^ "Art Acord of Screen Fame Asks Decree". Los Angeles Herald. July 10, 1919. p. 19. Retrieved August 5, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  25. ^ "Scandal Charged in Tour of Actress and Picture Producer". The Sacramento Bee. 1921-11-21. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-08-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Girl Named in Osborne Case Denies Charge". Los Angeles Herald. July 26, 1920. p. 1. Retrieved August 5, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
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