- Born
- Died
- Birth nameLeatrice Joy Zeidler
- Height1.60 m
- Making her film debut as an extra in 1917, Leatrice Joy soon graduated to playing opposite comics Billy West and Oliver Hardy. Director Cecil B. DeMille took her under his wing and starred her in several of his films. Often playing career girls dressed in mannish suits, or sophisticated society girls, she is generally credited with starting the bobbed-hair craze in the 1920s. She retired shortly after the advent of sound, but made occasional appearances in small supporting roles over the years.- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com
- SpousesArthur Kem Westermark(March 5, 1945 - October 21, 1954) (divorced)William Spencer Hook(October 22, 1931 - 1944) (divorced)John Gilbert(January 4, 1922 - May 28, 1925) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- RelativesDavid Prior(Great Grandchild)Gideon Fountain(Grandchild)John Fountain(Grandchild)
- Her unusual given name is said by her grandsons to have come about in the following manner: she was supposed to be named "Beatrice" but on the way to her christening, her mother remembered that Leatrice's father had once been engaged to a girl by that name. So she went through the alphabet (Beatrice, Ceatrice, Deatrice) until she came to a version she liked.
- Before she became an actress, Louise Beavers was Leatrice's maid for 12 years.
- She and John Gilbert had one daughter together, actress Leatrice Joy Gilbert.
- Two of her grandsons, John Fountain and Gideon Fountain, are actors.
- Her great-grandson is David Prior, who is an actor, a screenwriter, and a DVD producer.
- [on Christian Science] It has shown me the meaning of life and the path we should follow, both in acknowledging our Creator and in finding contentment.
- When an actress had to wear furs for a particular part the furs were real as were all her jewels. As a matter of fact, for one of my roles I was worth $250,000 on the hoof!
- The birth of acting for a camera was not the birth of a stepchild of legitimate theater. I hate that comparison. It was something new and different. It was the synthesis of pantomime with the mechanics of camera
- And while I was a girl still aspiring to the theatrical world - there were signs posted in California restaurants that read, "No dogs, cats or actresses permitted on the premises." That's how well regarded the acting profession was everywhere in those days.
- But my mother gave in and took me to New York where I began my career and fainted when I met Mary Pickford.
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