Zoe Rae

{{Short description|American actress (1910–2006)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Zoe Rae

| image = The Silent Lady.jpg

| caption = Zoe Rae in The Silent Lady (1917)

| birth_date = {{birth date|1910|7|13}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2006|5|20|1910|7|13}}

| death_place = Newberg, Oregon, U.S.

| yearsactive = 1915–1920

| occupation = Actress

}}

Zoe Rae (born Zoë Rae Bech; July 13, 1910 – May 20, 2006) was an American child actress of the silent era.{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Lon |date=June 16, 2006 |title=Zoe Rae: Child Star of the 1910s |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/zoe-rae-6098102.html |work=The Independent |access-date=January 26, 2025}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXzGCwAAQBAJ&q=%22Zoe+Rae%22+silent+film&pg=PA301|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2006: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|first=Harris M. Lentz|last=III|date=October 24, 2008|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786452118|access-date=May 2, 2019|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGS2AgAAQBAJ&q=%22Zoe+Rae%22+silent+film&pg=RA8-PA1936|title=An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930|first=Denise|last=Lowe|date=January 27, 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317718970|access-date=May 2, 2019|via=Google Books}} She appeared in 54 films between 1915 and 1920. She was called "the greatest little emotional actress on record" by Motion Picture Magazine.

As a baby, she had rickets, but she had recovered enough that at age six, she was signed by Universal Studios. She was nicknamed "Little Zoe, the Universal Baby", and would later fondly remember acting alongside Lon Chaney.

When she was ten, her father decided she could not make more movies until she had finished schooling. After college, she tried screenwriting and opened a dance studio in Hollywood. She married fellow dancer Ronald Foster Barlow in the early 1930s. When she was in her 90s, she received renewed attention from film enthusiasts. After being shown The Star Prince, in which she had played the title role at age eight, she exclaimed: "What a ham!"