Edith Storey

Storey was born on March 18, 1892, in New York City to William Chase Storey and Minnie Storey (née Thorn). Her younger brother, Richard, also had a brief but celebrated acting career.Pickford, Mary (June 30, 1916). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/34337965/?clipping_id=127298068 "Personalities I have Met: Frank Keenan"]. The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 5. Retrieved June 29, 2023.{{Cite news|title=State Convention of Firemen Opens; Secrets of the Movies Revealed|author=|date=September 23, 1920|work=Boston Daily Globe|page=12|quote=Richard Storey is a brother of Edith Storey, both noted as early film stars, and is now a director.|id={{ProQuest|963289463}}}}Quimby, Harriet (November 15, 1906). [https://archive.org/details/sim_leslies-weekly_1906-11-15_103_2671/page/466/mode/2up?q=%22little+Richard+Storey%22+%22Dick+Storey%22 "Hundreds of Child Actors on the Stage"]. Leslie's Weekly. p.466. Retrieved June 29, 2023.{{efn|In addition to being "placed at the head of the list of child actors" by reviewer/aviator/soon-to-be screenwriter Harriet Quimby in the November 15, 1906, issue of Leslie's Weekly, the then recently turned 10-year-old "Dick Storey" was also deemed "one of the cleverest of boy actors on the stage" and "one of the very few children capable of playing character roles."}}

Storey began acting when she was a child. Her film career began with the film Francesca di Rimini (1908), also called The Two Brothers. She would have two film roles in 1908, and a total of seventy-five by 1913. Many of these films were Westerns, as Storey was reportedly an excellent horseback rider and could perform her own stunts.The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen, 1920, pg. 174. Nicknamed Billy at the Star Film Ranch in Texas, she earned the good will of the seasoned cowboys in the Méliès film company for her ability to "ride anything with hair on it".{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=February 11, 1911 |title=Melies in Texas |url=https://archive.org/details/moviwor08chal/page/308/mode/1up |magazine=The Moving Picture World |page=308 |access-date=July 14, 2021}}

File:Edith storey 1911.jpg for When the Tables Turned, 1911]]

File:Billy and His Pal (1911).webm (1911), shot in San Antonio, Texas, and rediscovered in New Zealand in 2010. It is one of only five surviving films from the Star Film Ranch.{{cite web|url=https://www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-films/screening-room/billy-and-his-pal-1911 |title=Preserved Films: Billy and His Pal (1911) |publisher=National Film Preservation Foundation |access-date=July 14, 2021}}]]

Storey worked for New York-based Vitagraph Studios for most of her career except from 1910 to 1911, when she was under contract with Star Film Company in San Antonio, Texas.Thompson, Frank. The Star Film Ranch: Texas' First Picture Show. Republic of Texas Press, 1996. She appeared in nearly 150 films between 1908 and 1921, including The Immortal Alamo (1911), A Florida Enchantment (1914), and The Christian (1914), the latter film based on the Hall Caine novel of the same name,Goble, Alan (1999). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&pg=PA67&dq=%22the+christian%22+1911+1915+1923+%22hall+caine%22 The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film]. East Grinstead, West Sussex: Bowker-Saur. p. 67. {{ISBN|1-85739-229-9}}. first made in 1911[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15291756 "Amusements: The Glacarium"]. The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 November 1911. p. 19. Retrieved June 29, 2023. and later remade in 1915 and 1923. In 1918, Storey signed with Metro; The Eyes of Mystery (1918) was her debut film for that studio.{{cite journal |title=Edith Storey makes debut |journal=Dramatic Mirror |date=January 5, 1918 |volume=LXXVIII |issue=2037 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9e1DAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Morgan+Wallace%22+actor&pg=RA3-PA30 |access-date=January 24, 2020}}

She also continued to act on stage, appearing at least once alongside her younger brother in a 1916 revival of Anne Crawford Flexner's adaptation of Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.[https://books.google.com/books?id=Oqg5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA124&dq=%22wiggs+of+the+cabbage%22+%22richard+storey%22+%22edith+storey%22 Catalogue of Plays, 1916]. Sanger & Jordan. 1916. p. 124.

Storey was noted for taking on male impersonation roles, such as Lillian/Lawrence in A Florida Enchantment (1914), and was compared to Vesta Tilley. She also referred to herself as 'Billy'.{{cite book |last1=Bean |first1=Jennifer M. |last2=Negra |first2=Diane |title=A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema |date=21 November 2002 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-8384-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imj89lLLoQoC&dq=edith+storey&pg=PA259 |access-date=11 October 2022 |language=en}}

==Later life==

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She would appear in another seventy-one films from 1913 to 1921, almost all of which were what are considered film shorts. In 1921, aged 29, she retired. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in the film industry at 1523 Vine Street.

Following her retirement from acting, Storey served as village clerk of Asharoken, Long Island for almost 30 years.Stern, Seth (June 27, 1999). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/727046513/?clipping_id=127285008 "Sleepy Suburb or Celebrity Central?"]. Newsday. p. G19. Retrieved June 29, 2023.

She was residing in neighboring Northport at the time of her death on October 9, 1967, aged 75. She was cremated at Fresh Pond Crematory D.B.A. U.S. Columbarium co. on October 13, 1967.{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}

File:The Christian 1914.jpg

• Oliver Twist (1909)
• The Life of Moses (1909)
• The Immortal Alamo (1911)
• A Tale of Two Cities (1911)
• The Military Air-Scout (1911)
• An Aeroplane Elopement (1911)
• Billy and His Pal (AKA: Bobby and His Pal) (1911)
• Billy the Kid (1911)
• The Child Crusoes (1911)
• Never Again (1912)
• Red and White Roses (1913)
• Hearts of the First Empire (1913)
• The Forgotten Latchkey (1913)
• The Christian (1914)
• A Florida Enchantment (1914)
• Captain Alvarez (1914)
• The Tarantula (1916)
• The Two Edged Sword (1916)
• Money Magic (1917)
• Aladdin from Broadway (1917)
• Captain of the Gray Horse Troop (1917)
• Revenge (1918)
• The Eyes of Mystery (1918)
• The Legion of Death (1918)
• The Claim (1918)
• Treasure of the Sea (1918)
• The Demon (1918)
• The Silent Woman (1918)
• As the Sun Went Down (1919)
• Moon Madness (1920)
• Beach of Dreams (1921)
• The Greater Profit (1921)

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• {{IMDb name|0832458}}
• [http://www.allmovie.com/artist/edith-storey-p68527 Edith Storey] at allmovie
• [http://www.moviecard.com/zamerican/theatre/favorite/fav-storey.jpg Early portrait] (moviecard)
• Edith Storey and her [https://www.flickr.com/photos/charmainezoe/6478382643/ Winton Six] motorcar
• [https://www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-films/screening-room/billy-and-his-pal-1911] Billy and His Pal aka Bobby and His Pal at FilmPreservation.org's website

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Category:1892 births

Category:1967 deaths

Category:American silent film actresses

Category:Actresses from New York City

Category:People from Northport, New York

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:Articles containing video clips