Cleo Madison

With her brown hair and brown eyes, Cleo Madison cut a slim, natural presence on screen, a look that served her well across every genre she tackled. She began her career in 1910 with a theatrical company in Santa Barbara, California, and spent several years touring the vaudeville and theater circuit. Tired of life on the road, she returned to California and broke into motion pictures at Universal Pictures.

After appearing in numerous one- and two-reelers, Universal cast her in the serial The Trey o' Hearts (1914), which was a major success. Better parts followed, and she was eventually teamed with director Otis Turner; their films together were big hits. She went on to write and direct her own films, becoming one of the first women to do so, and turned out everything from westerns to action pictures to tearjerkers. Her success came at a cost. In 1922, worn down by a heavy schedule, she suffered a nervous breakdown and was off the screen for over a year.

She returned in 1924, apparently fully recovered, and made several more films. Then, for reasons she never explained, she left the business altogether. Cleo Madison died in Burbank, California, in 1964 of a heart attack. She was 80 years old.