Francelia Billington

On February 1, 1895, Billington was born in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of James Billington and his wife, Adelaide Bueter. At age 10, she moved to Los Angeles, where she attended Sacred Heart Convent. She began working in films for the Kalem Company's West Coast studio in 1912, then moved to Reliance-Majestic Studios the following year, and she continued starring in films under its banner when D.W. Griffith became the studio's director-general. Billington made The Half Breed with Jack Pickford in 1913. The production was filmed at the Majestic Studio on Boyle Heights. Billington left Majestic in 1915, and following her association with the Palo Alto Film Corporation, where she worked with Nell Shipman, one of the more remarkable figures in film history on the uncompleted film Wanda of the Red Street, she joined Universal. There, she played leads for directors Rupert Julian and Rex Ingram. In 1917, she went to The American Film Company in Santa Barbara, California to star in features directed by Edward Sloman. Her return to Universal in 1918 brought her a co-starring role in one of silent film's cinematic milestones: Blind Husbands, Erich von Stroheim's directorial debut. Billington played the wife, and Sam De Grasse played the husband. Although her performance brought praise from the critics, she earned no other great roles, and she continued in a mix of undistinguished melodramas, Westerns, and action films.