Bebe Daniels

Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer.

Bebe Daniels
Daniels in 1925
Born	Phyllis Virginia Daniels (1901-01-14)January 14, 1901 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died	March 16, 1971(1971-03-16) (aged 70) London, England, UK
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Other names	Bebe Lyon
Occupation	Actress, dancer, singer, producer, writer
Years active	1910–1961
Spouse(s)	Ben Lyon ​ ( m. 1930; died 1971)
Children	Barbara Lyon Richard Lyon (adopted, born Bryan Moore)

She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such as Rio Rita, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain. In a long career, Daniels appeared in 230 films.

Early life and career

Daniels was born Phyllis Virginia Daniels (Bebe was a childhood nickname) in Dallas, Texas. Her father was a travelling theater manager, Scottish-born Melville Daniel MacNeal who changed his name to Danny Daniels after a disagreement with his own father over his ambition to change from the medical profession to show business.[1] Her mother was a stage actress, born Phyllis de Forest Griffin, who was in Danny's travelling stock company when their child was born.[2] At the age of ten weeks her father proudly carried her on stage even though there was no part in the play for a baby.[3] The family moved to Los Angeles, California in her childhood, and she began her acting career at the age of four in the first version of The Squaw Man. The same year, she went on tour in a stage production of Shakespeare's Richard III. The following year, she participated in productions by Oliver Morosco and David Belasco.

By the age of seven, Daniels had her first starring role in film as the young heroine in A Common Enemy. At the age of nine, she starred as Dorothy Gale in the 1910 short film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At the age of 14, she starred with film comedian Harold Lloyd in a series of two-reel comedies, starting with the 1915 film Giving Them Fits. The two eventually developed a publicized romantic relationship and were known in Hollywood as "The Boy" and "The Girl."[4]

In 1919, she decided to move to greater dramatic roles and accepted a contract offering from Cecil B. DeMille, who gave her secondary roles in Male and Female (1919), Why Change Your Wife? (1920), and The Affairs of Anatol (1921).

Adult career in Hollywood

This 1922 Vanity Fair caricature by Ralph Barton^[1] shows the famous people who, he imagined, left work each day in Hollywood; use cursor to identify individual figures.

1. ^ "When the Five O'Clock Whistle Blows in Hollywood". Vanity Fair. September 1922. Retrieved June 27, 2017.

In the 1920s, Daniels was under contract with Paramount Pictures. She made the transition from child star to adult in Hollywood in 1922 and by 1924 was playing opposite Rudolph Valentino in Monsieur Beaucaire. Following this, she was cast in a number of light popular films, namely Miss Bluebeard, The Manicure Girl, and Wild Wild Susan. Paramount dropped her contract with the advent of talking pictures. Daniels was hired by Radio Pictures (later known as RKO) to star in one of their biggest productions of the year. She also starred in the 1929 talkie Rio Rita. It proved to be one of the more successful films of that year, Bebe Daniels became a star, and RCA Victor hired her to record several records for their catalog.

Radio Pictures starred her in a number of musicals including Dixiana (1930) and Love Comes Along (1930). Toward the end of 1930, Bebe Daniels appeared in the musical comedy Reaching for the Moon. However, by this time, musicals had gone out of fashion, and most of the musical numbers from the film had to be removed before it could be released. Daniels had become associated with musicals, and Radio Pictures did not renew her contract. Warner Bros. realized she was a box office draw, and she was offered a contract. During her years at Warner Bros., she starred in My Past (1931), Honor of the Family (1931), and the 1931 pre-code version of The Maltese Falcon. In 1932, she appeared in Silver Dollar (1932) and the successful Busby Berkeley choreographed musical comedy 42nd Street (1933) in which she sang once again. The same year, she played in Counsellor at Law. Her last film for Warner Bros. was Registered Nurse (1934).

Stalking incidents

In 1934, Daniels and husband Ben Lyon, whom she had married in June 1930, garnered press attention while having to testify against Albert F. Holland, a 36-year-old World War I veteran with a history of stalking Daniels.[5] Holland had been under the delusion that he had attended school with Daniels and that they had married in Mexico in 1925. In 1931, he broke into Daniels' hotel room in San Francisco, confronting and terrifying her, and had to be removed by security. He was arrested and committed to the Arizona State Asylum. Holland escaped from the institution in 1932 and began sending over one hundred and fifty threatening letters to Daniels. Arrested once more, he was again placed in a psychiatric institution. Following his release, another confrontation took place and Holland was again arrested. A lengthy trial in Los Angeles took place, with Holland conducting most of his own defense, including a lengthy cross-examination of Daniels' husband, Ben Lyon. Actress Doris Kenyon, a friend of Daniels and Lyon, testified for the prosecution. Ultimately, the jury found Holland to be mentally unfit and he was committed to a psychiatric facility for an indefinite period. Daniels and Lyon subsequently moved to London.[6]

Career in London and later

Bebe Daniels retired from Hollywood in 1935 with her husband, film actor Ben Lyon, and their two children, and then she moved to London. In February 1939, Daniels and Lyon co-starred in a series of commercial radio shows, the Rinso Radio Revue, recorded in London for Radio Luxembourg.[7] They and Bebe's mother Phyllis all went back to the U.S. on 14 June 1939, leaving Barbara and Richard in Los Angeles in the care of Phyllis, and then returned to London seven weeks later. After the start of World War II, they worked for the BBC, most notably starring in the comedy radio series Hi Gang! Born from an idea by Ben, and with most of the dialogue by Bebe, it enjoyed considerable popularity. A few years later, Daniels starred in the London production of Panama Hattie in the title role originated by Ethel Merman. The couple remained in England through the days of The Blitz.

Publicity photo, circa 1924

Following the war, Daniels was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Harry S Truman for war service. In 1945, she returned to Hollywood for a short time to work as a film producer for Hal Roach and Eagle-Lion Films. She returned to the UK in 1948 and lived there for the remainder of her life. Daniels, her husband, her son Richard and her daughter Barbara all starred in the radio sitcom Life with the Lyons (1951 to 1961), which later made the transition to television.

Personal life

Daniels married actor Ben Lyon in June 1930.[8] They had two children: daughter Barbara in 1932 and a son Richard (born Bryan Moore in 1935), whom they adopted from a London orphanage. In an issue of the contemporary magazine Radio Pictorial, she explained how she saw Richard peering through the railings and instantly thought "A brother for Barbara".[9]

Later years and death

Daniels suffered a severe stroke in 1963 and withdrew from public life. She suffered a second stroke in late 1970.[9] On March 16, 1971, Daniels died of a cerebral hemorrhage in London at the age of 70.[10] She died eight days after her co-star Harold Lloyd. Her remains were cremated at London's Golders Green Crematorium and the ashes returned to the United States; she was interred at the Chapel Columbarium at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Upon his death in 1979, Ben Lyon's remains were interred next to Daniels'.[11]

A biography Bebe and Ben was written by Jill Allgood, a personal friend who worked with them at the BBC.

Selected filmography

Short subjects

Year	Title	Role	Notes or release date
1910	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz	Dorothy Gale	Role disputed as credits are lost
1910	Justinian and Theodora		December 29, 1910
1911	A Counterfeit Santa Claus		December 21, 1911
1913	The Savage	Bit part	January 21, 1913
1914	Anne of the Golden Heart	Lucy Blake	January 22, 1914
1915	Giving Them Fits	Co-Worker	November 1, 1915
1915	Bughouse Bellhops		November 8, 1915
1915	Ruses, Rhymes and Roughnecks		December 15, 1915
1916	Lonesome Luke Leans to the Literary		January 5, 1916
1916	Luke, the Candy Cut-Up		January 31, 1916
1916	Luke Pipes the Pippins		March 15, 1916
1916	Luke Laughs Last		June 5, 1916
1916	Luke's Movie Muddle		December 3, 1916
1917	Luke's Lost Liberty		January 7, 1917
1917	Luke's Busy Day		January 21, 1917
1917	Luke's Trolley Troubles		February 4, 1917
1917	Lonesome Luke's Lively Life		March 18, 1917
1917	Lonesome Luke's Honeymoon		May 20, 1917
1917	Lonesome Luke, Messenger	The Girl	August 5, 1917
1917	By the Sad Sea Waves		September 30, 1917
1917	Bliss	The Girl	October 14, 1917
1917	Rainbow Island		October 28, 1917
1917	The Flirt		November 11, 1917
1917	All Aboard	The Girl	November 25, 1917
1918	Hey There!	The Leading Lady	April 28, 1918
1918	The Non-Stop Kid	Miss Wiggle	May 12, 1918
1918	Two-Gun Gussie	The Girl	May 19, 1918
1918	Take a Chance	The Hired Girl	December 15, 1918
1919	Going! Going! Gone!	Miss Goulash	January 26, 1919
1919	Ask Father	Switchboard operator	February 9, 1919
1919	Next Aisle Over	Miss Paprika	March 30, 1919
1919	A Sammy in Siberia	Olga	April 6, 1919
1919	Young Mr. Jazz	The Girl	May 4, 1919
1919	Don't Shove	Bebe	August 31, 1919
1919	Bumping into Broadway	The Girl	November 2, 1919
1924	Hello, 'Frisco	Herself	September 24, 1924

Silent features

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1919	Male and Female	The King's Favourite
1919	Everywoman	Vice	Lost film
1920	Why Change Your Wife?	Sally Clark
1920	The Dancin' Fool	Junie Budd
1920	Sick Abed	Nurse Durant
1920	You Never Can Tell	Rowena Patricia Jones
1920	The Fourteenth Man	Marjory Seaton	Lost film
1920	Oh, Lady, Lady	Mary Barber	Lost film
1920	She Couldn't Help It	Young Nance	Lost film
1921	Ducks and Drakes	Teddy Simpson
1921	Two Weeks with Pay	Pansy O'Donnell/Marie La Tour	Lost film
1921	The March Hare	Lisbeth Ann Palmer	Lost film
1921	One Wild Week	Pauline Hathaway	Lost film
1921	The Affairs of Anatol	Satan Synne
1921	The Speed Girl	Betty Lee	Lost film
1922	Nancy from Nowhere	Nancy	Lost film
1922	A Game Chicken	Inez Hastings	Lost film
1922	North of the Rio Grande	Val Hannon	Lost film
1922	Nice People	Theodora Gloucester	Lost film
1922	Pink Gods	Lorraine Temple	Lost film
1922	Singed Wings	Bonita della Guerda	Lost film
1923	The World's Applause	Corinne d'Alys	Lost film
1923	The Glimpses of the Moon	Susan Branch	Lost film
1923	The Exciters	Ronnie Rand	Lost film
1923	Hollywood	Herself (cameo)	Lost film
1923	His Children's Children	Diane	Lost film
1924	Heritage of the Desert	Mescal
1924	Daring Youth	Alita Allen	Lost film
1924	Unguarded Women	Breta Banning	Lost film
1924	Monsieur Beaucaire	Princess Henriette
1924	Sinners In Heaven	Barbara Stockley	Lost film
1924	Dangerous Money	Adele Clark	Lost film
1924	Argentine Love	Consuelo Garcia	Lost film
1925	Miss Bluebeard	Colette Girard
1925	The Crowded Hour	Peggy Laurence	Lost film
1925	The Manicure Girl	Maria Maretti	Lost film
1925	Wild, Wild Susan	Susan Van Dusen	Lost film
1925	Lovers in Quarantine	Diana
1926	The Splendid Crime	Jenny	Lost film
1926	Miss Brewster's Millions	Polly Brewster	Lost film
1926	The Palm Beach Girl	Emily Bennett	Lost film
1926	Volcano!	Zabette de Chavalons
1926	The Campus Flirt	Patricia Mansfield	Lost film
1926	Stranded in Paris	Julie McFadden	Lost film
1927	A Kiss in a Taxi	Ginette	Lost film
1927	Señorita	Señorita Francesca Hernandez
1927	Swim Girl, Swim	Alice Smith	Lost film
1927	She's a Sheik	Zaida	Lost film
1928	Feel My Pulse	Barbara Manning
1928	The Fifty-Fifty Girl	Kathleen O'Hara	Lost film
1928	Hot News	Pat Clancy	Lost film
1928	Take Me Home	Peggy Lane	Lost film
1928	What a Night!	Dorothy Winston	Lost film[12]

Sound films and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1929	Rio Rita	Rita Ferguson	Incomplete film
1930	Love Comes Along	Peggy	Incomplete film
1930	Alias French Gertie	Gertie Jones/aka Marie
1930	Dixiana	Dixiana Caldwell
1930	Lawful Larceny	Marion Dorsey
1930	Reaching for the Moon	Vivien Benton
1931	My Past	Miss Doree Macy
1931	The Maltese Falcon	Ruth Wonderly
1931	Honor of the Family	Laura	Lost film
1932	Silver Dollar	Lily Owens Martin
1933	42nd Street	Dorothy Brock
1933	Cocktail Hour	Cynthia Warren
1933	Counsellor at Law	Regina "Rexy" Gordon
1933	The Song You Gave Me	Mitzi Hansen
1933	A Southern Maid	Juanita/Dolores
1934	Registered Nurse	Sylvia 'Ben' Benton
1935	Music Is Magic	Diane De Valle
1936	Treachery on the High Seas	May Hardy	Alternative title: Not Wanted on Voyage
1938	The Return of Carol Deane	Carol Deane
1941	Hi Gang!	The Liberty Girl
1947	The Fabulous Joe	-	Producer
1954	Life with the Lyons	Bebe Lyon	Alternative title: Family Affair
1955	The Lyons in Paris	Bebe	Alternative titles: Mr. and Mrs. in Paree The Lyons Abroad
1955–1960	Life with the Lyons	Bebe Lyon	Unknown episodes producer, writer

Selected radio performances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1939	Rinso Radio Revue	Bebe Daniels	Radio Luxembourg, with Ben Lyon, Tommy Handley and others
1941-1949	Hi Gang!	Bebe Lyon	BBC, with Ben, Barbara and Richard Lyon and Vic Oliver
1950-1961	Life with the Lyons	Bebe Lyon	BBC, with Ben, Barbara and Richard Lyon

Bibliography

• Allgood, Jill (1975). Bebe and Ben. Robert Hale & Co. ISBN 978-0-709-14942-2.
• Daniels, Bebe; Allgood, Jill (1950). 282 ways of making a salad with favorite recipes by British and American personalities and stars. Cassell & Co. OCLC 13066530.
• Daniels, Bebe; Lyons, Ben (1953). Life with the Lyons, the Autobiography of Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon. Odhams Press. ASIN B0000CIGNZ.
• Epting, Charles L. (2016). Bebe Daniels:Hollywood's Good Little Bad Girl. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co Inc. ISBN 978-1476663746.

Footnotes

1. Life with the Lyons pp. 21–22
2. Golden, Eve (2001). Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars. McFarland. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-7864-0834-4.
3. Bebe and Ben p.20
4. The Girl and The Boy, "Bebe and Harold Were A Perfect Match On and Off the Screen" by Tim Lussier
5. "Actor Ben Lyon, his wife, actress Bebe Daniels, and their friend, actress Doris Kenyon, during a trial for Albert F. Holland..." Calisphere. 1934. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
6. Slide, Anthony (March 2, 2018). Magnificent Obsession: The Outrageous History of Film Buffs, Collectors, Scholars, and Fanatics. University Press of Mississippi. p. 111. ISBN 978-1496810533.
7. The Era, 16 February 1939
8. Donnelley 2003 p.191
9. Golden, Eve (2000). Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars. McFarland. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-786-48354-9.
10. Donnelley, Paul (November 1, 2005). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus Press. p. 301. ISBN 978-1-84449-430-9.
11. D'Agostino, Annette M. (2004). The Harold Lloyd Encyclopedia. McFarland. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-786-41514-4.
12. "What a Night (1928)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 5, 2012.

External links

• Bebe Daniels on IMDb
• Bebe Daniels at the TCM Movie Database
• Bebe Daniels at AllMovie
• Good Little Bad Girl: Bebe Daniels
• Photographs and bibliography
• Bebe Daniels' maternal grandmother's family