Evelyn Greeley

Evelyn Greeley
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Full name	Evelyn Greeley
Alternative names	Evelyn Huber, Evelyn Laity, Evelyn Rand
Presence at Shimer	?–?
Presence on Earth	1888–1975
Role(s)	Academy period alum

Evelyn Greeley was probably a student at Shimer College during the early Academy period. However, her attendance has not been definitively confirmed.

Profiled

• in Österreicher in Hollywood, 1994, p. 167:

  Um die Person1 einter der grossen Beauties des Stummfilms rankte sich zeitlebens eine gut erfundene und publicitytraechtige Biographie: geboren in Lexington, Kentucky, Enkelin des berühmten Journalisten Horace Greeley, ausgebildet an fiktiven Instituten wie der Frances Shimer Academy und University School for Girls. Magazine huldigten dem Inbegriff des romantischen, temperamentvollen und typischen „southern girls". Die Fakten lasen sich gut und wurden von den Fans begierig aufgenommen. ... Das Death Certificate des Staates Florida offenbarte einem erstaunten Kino-Publikum die Fiktion ihrer Lebensgeschichte. Die „Movie Dixie Queen"4 stammte aus dem alten Osterreich, die Namen der Eltern lauteten Stephen (Stephan) und Frances (Franziska) Huber, geborene Marko. Weitere Details, wie der Geburtsort der Schauspielerin oder wann die Familie aus der Monarchie in die Vereinigten Staaten übersiedelt war, konnten nicht ermittelt werden.

• in Silent Film Necrology, Eugene Michael Vazzana, 2001, p. 210:

  Greeley, Evelyn [actress] (nee Evelyn Huber, b. Lexington KY, 3 Nov 1888-25 Mar 1975 [86], West Palm Beach FL). m. (1) actor John Smiley; (2) James H. Rand— div. 1960; (3) Morgan Laity. (Essanay [Chicago], 1914; Dixie Film Co.; World; Fox.) [....]

• in Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Silver Screen Vol. I The Silent Years, Jerry L. Schneider, 2005, pp. 467-468:

  Greeley, Evelyn (born November 3, 1888, in Austria, a daughter of Stephen Huber and Frances Marko; died March 25, 1975, West Palm Beach, Florida) (published accounts state she was born in Lexington, Kentucky) is said to have been educated at the Frances Shimer Academy and the University School for Girls. She was married to Morgan Laity. [....]

Biography

Evelyn Greeley was a well-known actress in the early years of silent film, appearing in approximately 30 films from 1915 to 1922.

Early life and education

Little is known with confidence about Greeley's early life. Her date of birth is generally indicated as August 3, 1888. Contemporary publicity called her the granddaughter of Horace Greeley, and had her born in Lexington, Kentucky; subsequent directories have often followed this. However, her death certificate indicated that she was born to Stephen Huber and Frances Marko in Austria. The pervasive anti-German sentiment during the World War I years would have provided an incentive for constructing such a false history.

For education, she is believed to have attended the Frances Shimer Academy, now known as Shimer College, and also the University School for Girls, located in Chicago. Both schools were affiliated with the University of Chicago. However, this account of her education has been regarded by some as part of her "fictional life story".

Acting career

Greeley began her acting career on the stage, touring with the "Poli Players" stock company of Sylvester Z. Poli. She began working in film in 1914, for the Chicago-based Essanay company, doing bit parts. It was only after more than a year that she obtained her first credit line, in the Quality Pictures production The Second in Command.

Greeley's career peaked in the years 1917-1919, when she was under contract with the World Film Corporation, and starred opposite Carlyle Blackwell in numerous films.

Filmography

1918 composite of three pictures of Greeley.

• The Second in Command (1915)
• Just a Song at Twilight (1916)
• Tempest and Sunshine (1916)
• The Burglar (1917)
• The Good for Nothing
• The Price of Pride
• The Social Leper
• The Beautiful Mrs. Reynolds
• The Beloved Blackmailer
• By Hook or Crook
• The Golden Wall
• His Royal Highness
• Leap to Fame
• The Road to France (The Allies)
• Courage for Two
• Three Green Eyes
• Hit or Miss
• The Brand of Satan
• The Volunteer
• Bringing Up Betty
• The Oakdale Affair
• Me and Captain Kidd
• Hitting the Trail
• Love in a Hurry
• Phil-for-Short
• Diana of Star Hollow (1921)
• His Greatest Sacrifice (1921)
• Pasteboard Clown (1922)
• Just a Song at Twilight (1922)
• Bulldog Drummond (1922)

Later life

Greeley, who had been billed in the newspapers as the "most proposed-to woman in America", married for the first time, to John Smiley, in October 1922. Smiley is variously identified as a fellow actor or a steel company executive.

This first marriage does not appear to have lasted long, for in 1923, Greeley became the wife of businessman James H. Rand. Rand and Greeley finally divorced in 1960, charging one another with cruelty. Subsequently, she married Morgan Laity.

Greeley died in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1975. She was survived by her husband.

References

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