Betty Bronson Biography

A sprightly, merry, tiny leading lady of the silent era, Bronson played bits in films starting at age 16; two years later, she was selected by author Sir James Barrie to play the title role in the first film version of his Peter Pan (1924). With her petiteness and lively persona, she was placed into a series of elfin roles by Paramount; the studio hoped to build her up as the successor to Mary Pickford as "America's Sweetheart." Public tastes changed rapidly, however, and she was soon obliged to accept more mature roles which caused her popularity to quickly wane. Nevertheless, she went on to star in many silents and some talkies before retiring from the screen (to get married) in the early '30s. She made one more appearance in the '30s (in a western starring Gene Autry) then disappeared from the screen until the 1960s, when she resumed her career as a character actress. ~ Rovi