Florence Vidor

Vidor was born in Houston on July 23, 1895, to John and Ida Cobb. Her parents had married in Houston on March 3, 1894, but divorced only three years later. Ida remained in Houston and soon married John P. Arto, a real estate man who later served as deputy chief of the city's fire department. Florence Vidor started working in silent movies through the influence of her husband, film director King Vidor, whom she had married in 1915. She signed her first contract with Vitagraph Studios in 1916. Her early fame was due to her role in the 1921 film Hail the Woman. Throughout the 1920s, she was a major box office attraction for Paramount Pictures. Her career ended with the advent of sound films. In 1929 she became so frustrated by the difficulties of making the partial sound film Chinatown Nights that she retired from acting before the production was completed. Director William A. Wellman had to use a voice double to complete some of her scenes.