Betty Bronson(1906-1971)
- Actress
Betty Bronson's discovery reads like a Hollywood dream. As a New Jersey
teenage bit-player, she was rocketed from obscurity when she was chosen
to play the part of Peter Pan in 1924's
Peter Pan (1924). She was hand-selected
by author J.M. Barrie and beat several
Hollywood superstars to the part, most notably
Gloria Swanson and
Mary Pickford. Pickford, though nearly 30,
had built a career out of playing such parts, and faced the first
serious threat to her status as "America's Sweetheart". Betty's
beautifully expressive performance and unsophisticated looks earned her
instant success. For the year following "Peter Pan"'s release,
Bronson-mania easily equaled the sort of hysteria previously reserved
only for Pickford.
Unfortunately, Bronson's studio seemed unsure of how to exploit this
talent, which was wasted in small or unchallenging roles. "Peter Pan"'s
1925 follow-up,
A Kiss for Cinderella (1925),
seemed destined for the same success--but instead was a major flop. In
only one year the public taste had changed so much as to render the
sentimental entertainment of yesteryear obsolete. Had Bronson emerged
ten years earlier she would have been a worthy competitor to Pickford;
in 1925, audiences were suddenly more interested in the more adult
charms of flappers such as Clara Bow
and Colleen Moore. Betty, too, was
re-launched as a flapper, sophisticate and occasional period dame. Her
career was moderately successful but her superstardom had subsided. She
sparkled and demonstrated an excellent voice in her first sound
appearance
(The Singing Fool (1928) with
Al Jolson) but it became clear that her
formidable skills as a pantomimist was wasted in the new form. She
retired in 1933 to marry, and only appeared on-screen intermittently
thereafter.
teenage bit-player, she was rocketed from obscurity when she was chosen
to play the part of Peter Pan in 1924's
Peter Pan (1924). She was hand-selected
by author J.M. Barrie and beat several
Hollywood superstars to the part, most notably
Gloria Swanson and
Mary Pickford. Pickford, though nearly 30,
had built a career out of playing such parts, and faced the first
serious threat to her status as "America's Sweetheart". Betty's
beautifully expressive performance and unsophisticated looks earned her
instant success. For the year following "Peter Pan"'s release,
Bronson-mania easily equaled the sort of hysteria previously reserved
only for Pickford.
Unfortunately, Bronson's studio seemed unsure of how to exploit this
talent, which was wasted in small or unchallenging roles. "Peter Pan"'s
1925 follow-up,
A Kiss for Cinderella (1925),
seemed destined for the same success--but instead was a major flop. In
only one year the public taste had changed so much as to render the
sentimental entertainment of yesteryear obsolete. Had Bronson emerged
ten years earlier she would have been a worthy competitor to Pickford;
in 1925, audiences were suddenly more interested in the more adult
charms of flappers such as Clara Bow
and Colleen Moore. Betty, too, was
re-launched as a flapper, sophisticate and occasional period dame. Her
career was moderately successful but her superstardom had subsided. She
sparkled and demonstrated an excellent voice in her first sound
appearance
(The Singing Fool (1928) with
Al Jolson) but it became clear that her
formidable skills as a pantomimist was wasted in the new form. She
retired in 1933 to marry, and only appeared on-screen intermittently
thereafter.