Martha Sleeper Pics

Martha

Sleeper

24 June 1907

64

Slim

Cancer

White

Lake Bluff, Illinois

25 March 1983

Beaufort, South Carolina

Brown - Dark

Brown - Dark

American

Female

Martha Sleeper (June 24, 1910 – March 25, 1983) was a silent film comedienne of the 1920s and Broadway actress of the 1940s.

Martha Sleeper was a silent film comedian of the 1920s and Broadway actress of the 1940s. She was under contract to Hal Roach studios beginning in 1924, when she was only fourteen years of age. She was born in Lake Bluff, Illinois on June 24, 1910 and spent her first years on a sheep ranch in Wyoming. Sleeper`s father, William B. Sleeper, was an official of the Keith-Albee-Orpheum vaudeville circuit in New York City. He retired to Los Angeles, California in 1923 because of ill health. William was found dead of heart disease on September 1, 1925, in the bed of his home on 1756 North Tamarind Street. Sleeper, then 15, was with her mother and sister on a short trip to New York City. As a youth she studied dancing for five years with the Russian ballet master, Louis H. Chalif, in his New York dancing studio. Her first public exhibitions were at Carnegie Hall at his class exhibitions. One of her dancing photos was sent to an uncle in Los Angeles, California. He framed and displayed it on a wall of his home. The home was sold to Emory Johnson and his mother, Emily Johnson. Emily wrote The Mail Man and recommended Sleeper for a part in films after noticing the teenager`s photo. In 1926, at the age of 16, the young actress wrote and published a book entitled Hollywood Be Thy Name. She wrote the story while doing screen work and performing four hours of school work daily. The volume was a romance of work, adventure, and success in Hollywood. Sleeper`s film career began in 1923 and continued until 1945. Her early comedy efforts with Hal Roach include The Mailman (1923), The Racing Kid (1924), Trailing Trouble (1924), Please, Teacher! (1924), A Ten Minute Egg (1924), Sweet Daddy (1924), and Outdoor Pajamas (1924). She also appeared in a handful of silent "Our Gang" shorts including: "Better Movies" (1925), "Baby Clothes" (1926) and "Thundering Fleas" (1926). Martha`s final movies were mainly in the late 1930s, concluding with The Bells of St. Mary`s (1945). After achieving prominence on the New York stage, Sleeper left abruptly in 1949. She sailed from New York on a 40-foot schooner. Her destination was the Virgin Islands and a vacation with her husband. However, when she reached Puerto Rico, she thought, I knew this was the place for me. She fell in love with the island and opened a hand-made clothing shop there in 1950. Sleeper sewed native dresses in San Juan and resolved never to return to the US mainland. Before World War II Sleeper designed jewelry. Using her hands productively was not a new thing for her. She was proficient in selling many of her Martha Sleeper creations to stores in the United States and neighboring islands.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Sleeper

Martha Sleeper

WAMPAS Baby Star of 1927

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