Ethelyn Gibson

Ethelyn Gibson (8 May 1897 - 18 October 1972) was an American actress during the silent era. She is known for her roles in Cupid's Rival (1917), He's in Again(1918), Happy Days (1926), and as "Winnie Winkle" in the Winnie series in the late 1920s.

She was the wife of American actor/producer/director Billy West, with whom she often shared the screen.

Ethelyn Gibson was born as Ethel Strouse on May 8, 1897, in Belmont, Ohio, to Lucy M. (Ward) and Horatio S. (aka Robert or Rubin) Strouse. 

She had four brothers: Harry (1889-1972), Levi Ward (1894-1977), Frank (1897-1969), and George W. (1899-1984). 

Gibson made her stage debut in 1914 with the Ziegfeld Follies. 

In 1916, she made her screen debut with His Married Life opposite her future husband Billy West. The same year, she was also seen in Bombs and Boarders, also opposite West.

In 1917, Gibson portrayed a model in Arvid E. Gillstrom's comedy Cupid's Rival, starring West, Oliver Hardy, and Mary Ross.

Her other notable film credits include Arvid E. Gillstrom's The Goat, The Chief Cook, and The Freeloader (all 1917); Charley Chase' Bright and Early (1918), Playmates(1918), He's in Again (1918), Rolling Stone (1919), and Italian Love (1920); Ward Hayes' Rivals (1925); Ralph Ceder's A Day's Vacation (1925); and Edward Ludwig's So Long Bill (1925).

In 1926, Gibson was cast in the title role of "Winnie Winkle" in the comedy Working Winnie alongside Billy Bassette and Ray Erlenborn, for Weiss Brothers/Artclass Pictures. The film was a success and she repeated the role in the following movies of the series such as Winnie's Birthday (1926), Oh! Winnie Behave (1926), Winnie's Vacation (1927), Winnie Wakes Up (1927), Winnie Steps Out (1927), and Winnie's Winning Ways (1928). These comedies were based on the works of comic artist/cartoonist Martin Branner.

Her last film was Winnie's Winning Ways in 1928, after which she retired from the film industry.

In mid-late 1929, she appeared in newspaper advertisements for the herbal drug Flaxolyn. According to the ad, she had a complete breakdown due to the stress of her work on stage and screen, her condition only worsened after she fell off a horse. Her condition apparently improved through the use of Dr. Harris H. Luntz's Herbal Flaxolyn Formula.

Gibson was married to her co-star Billy West from 1919, until the divorce in 1928. On May 11, 1928, West was granted an interlocutory divorce decree from Gibson, charging that she had deserted him five years prior and that a reconciliation attempt during that time had failed. He also filed an unsuccessful $100,000 "heart balm suit" against Michael Glaser, aka L. Glaser, for alienation of affections, charging that Glaser "lured his wife from him in 1923, promising her more luxuries than the comedian could provide."

Gibson died on October 18, 1972, in Barnesville, Ohio, at the age of 75.