Edna Flugrath

(b. Brooklyn, New York, 29/12/1893 – d. San Diego, California, 06/04/1966). Actress. An American-born actress, though mostly in British films, Edna Flugrath met director Harold Shaw, her husband-to-be, at the Edison Company, where she was a member of the stock company. She followed him to England when, in 1913, he joined the London Film Company and subsequently acted in some 35 of his shorts and features, including the three films he made in South Africa: De Voortrekkers (1916), The Rose of Rhodesia (1918) and Thoroughbreds All (1919). In South Africa she also appeared in The Splendid Waster (1916) and Sonny’s Little Bit (1917), both directed by Lorimer Johnston. Before their return to Great Britain, she and Shaw appeared together on the stage in The wasters. They married in January 1917, not long after the premiere of De Voortrekkers. She resumed her film career in England, appearing a number of films directed by Shaw, but in 1922 the couple returned to the United States. There she gave up acting and opened a beauty salon in Hollywood. In January 1926, Shaw was killed in a motor accident and she eventually remarried. Her younger sisters, Viola Dana (Virginia Flugrath) and Shirley Mason (Leonie Flugrath), also had successful careers in silent films. (FO)

Sources

Le Roux, André I. & Fourie, Lilla – Filmverlede: geskiedenis van die Suid-Afrikaanse speelfilm

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