Laura Bayley

Laura Bayley
Born 1864 (1864)
Died 1938 (aged 7374)
Nationality British
Other names
  • Laura Eugenia Smith
  • Mrs. George Albert Smith
Occupation Actor, filmmaker
Spouse(s) George Albert Smith

Laura Eugenia Bayley (1864  1938) was a British actor and filmmaker.

Early life

Bayley was born in the English seaside town of Ramsgate. She and her sisters Blanche, Florence, and Eva joined J. D. Hunter's Theatre Company, performing at the Brighton Aquarium.[1] At the age of twenty-four, she married George Albert Smith. The couple had two children, Harold Norman and Dorothy Eugenie, in 1889 and 1890, respectively (both would later appear in Smith's films).[1]

Stage and film career

Bayley, a professional actress, was experienced in comic acting for pantomime and revues.[2] When Smith went into the filmmaking business in 1897, he drew extensively on her knowledge of visual humor and audience tastes, and starred her in many of his most significant films.[2]

The British Film Institute's Screenonline database ranks Bayley as "the most prolific British actress" in turn-of-the-century cinema.[3] Bayley also appeared in some of Smith's 1906 and 1908 tests of the color-film process Kinemacolor.[1]

During her acting career, Bayley also worked on her own as a filmmaker, making numerous short films that were designed and marketed for a home projector, the Biokam.[1]

Filmography

Year Title Role
1897 Hanging out the Clothes; or, Master, Mistress and Maid The maid
1897 The X Rays The young woman
1897 The Haunted Castle
1898 Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother Cinderella
1898 Santa Claus The mother
1899 The Death of Poor Joe Poor Joe
1899 The Kiss in the Tunnel The young woman
1900 Let Me Dream Again The young woman
1900 The Old Maid's Valentine Miss Pimple
1900 Scandal over the Teacups
1901 A Photograph Taken from Our Area Window
1902 Robinson Crusoe Robinson Crusoe
1903 Mary Jane's Mishap; or, Don't Fool with the Paraffin Mary Jane
1906 Two Clowns

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Fletcher, Tony (2013), Gaines, Jane; Vatsal, Radha; Dall'Asta, Monica, eds., "Laura Bayley", Women Film Pioneers Project, Center for Digital Research and Scholarship, Columbia University Libraries, retrieved 20 October 2016
  2. 1 2 Gray, Frank, "Smith, G.A. (1864-1959)", Screenonline, British Film Institute, retrieved 20 October 2016
  3. Duguid, Mark, "Mary Jane's Mishap or, Don't Fool with the Paraffin (1903)", Screenonline, British Film Institute, retrieved 20 October 2016

External links

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