Estelle Brody

Image of Estelle Brody is held at the Find a Grave site: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=8719320&PIpi=911324 accessed 30 November 2010.

(b.1900-d.1995)

American-born actress Estelle Brody played leading roles in many British silent films during the late 1920s. Prior to that, she had been a stage actress for two years. In silent films, she was most famous for playing the title role in Mademoiselle from Armentieres (1926) and the mill girl in Hindle Wakes (1927) by Maurice Elvey and Victor Saville.  Hindle Wakes was featured in “Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood” (1995) directed by Kevin Brownlow and Dan Carter, a documentary mini-series about the rise and fall of the European silent film industry (1895-1933).

According to Kevin Brownlow’s obituary for Estelle (Independent, 6 June 1995), when she played the working-class London girl in the silent film Kitty (1929), the director decided to convert the last three reels into sound, but because the studio, BIP, had no facilities, Brody and her co-star John Stuart were rushed to New York to reshoot the final sequences using RKO’s experimental sound studio on 7th Avenue.

Though she retired in 1929, she returned to the screen to play small supporting and character roles during the 1950s. Credits from that era include supporting roles in Lilli Marlene (1951) , Safari (1956) and Never Take candy from a Stranger (1961). She was 90 years old when she died. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Films with Charles Ashton

Kitty Greenwood in Kitty (1929)

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