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Bebe Daniels
Phyllis "Bebe" Daniels was born Jan. 14,
1901, in Dallas Texas. Since her father was a theatrical manager
and her mother a star in the theatre, Bebe was on the stage from
the time she was born. Although she had made her film debut at
age seven in Selig's "The Common Enemy," she continued
in school until answering an ad for a leading lady for Harold
Lloyd in 1915. Although she was only 14, she began working with
Lloyd in his Lonesome Luke comedies and stayed with him as he
developed his glasses character over the next few years. Daniels,
unlike most comics' leading ladies, was a presence on the screen
and an integral part of the comedy, no mere fixture. Her charisma
and talent were obvious, and she gained the attention of Cecil
B. DeMille who signed her away from Lloyd and the Hal Roach studios
in 1919. Her first role for DeMille was in "Male and Female"
(1919). It wasn't a large part, the role of a temptress in a Babylonian
flashback, but it brought her notice. She continued to prove attractive
and alluring with continued "sexy" roles in "Why
Change Your Wife?" (1920) and "The Affairs of Anatol"
(1921) in which she is the seductress Satan Synne. These were
not her only films, though. In 1920, she made seven films and
six more in 1921 co-starring with such leading men as Robert Warwick,
Harrison Ford and Wallace Reid. In 1924, she costarred with Rudolph
Valentino in "Monsieur Beaucaire." In all, she made
51 films for Paramount between 1919 and 1928 becoming one of the
most popular stars on the screen. A 1921 film entitled "The
Speed Girl" cashed in on an incident in which Daniels spent
10 days in jail for speeding. No one knows for sure how much of
a publicity stunt this was, but Daniels pretty much spent 10 days
in "luxury" with her cell furnished by an interior decorator
and constant visitors. Almost all of Daniels' films of the twenties
were lightweight comedies, but they were enormously popular with
audiences. Oddly enough, she was released by Paramount in 1928,
but proved she could continue into the sound era with creditable
singing in RKO's "Rio Rita" (1920), as well as "Love
Comes Along" (1930) and "Dixiana" (1930). Critical
acclaim came her way in 1933 as a fading theatrical star in "42nd
Street." Bebe married silent film leading man Ben Lyon in
1930 had a daughter in 1932 and adopted a son after that. In 1936,
the Lyons moved to London where their radio show, "Hi Gang,"
was extremely popular during the war years. After the war, the
returned to the United States briefly, but returned to their beloved
England in the 1950's and appeared in a long-running TV show entitled
"Life with the Lyons." Although Bebe hadn't done any
screen work since the late 1930's, she and Lyon did make two big
screen versions of "Life with the Lyons" during the
1950's. Bebe died at her London home March 16, 1971. For more
on the Bebe Daniels-Harold Lloyd years, see "The
Girl and the Boy." Also, see Rick Levinson's article
on Bebe Daniels "The
Good Little Bad Girl."
Selected films of this star available for viewing:
Male
and Female (1919)
Why Change Your Wife? (1920)
The Affairs
of Anatol (1921)
Monsieur Beaucaire (1924)
Lovers in Quarantine (1925)
Miss Bluebeard (1925)
Feel
My Pulse (1928)
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