Gladys Brockwell

Gladys Brockwell (née. Lindeman; September 26, 1894 – July 2, 1929) was an American actress whose career began during the silent film era.

Gladys Lindeman was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26, 1894. Her father was H. R. Lindeman. Her mother, Lillian Lindeman, a chorus girl turned actress, put her daughter on stage at an early age. By the time she was 14, she played leading roles, and when she was 17 she had her own company. She took on the stage name Gladys Brockwell (using her mother's maiden name), and made her film debut in 1913 for Lubin Studios. Within a short time was starring in a number of films. Developing her craft, she moved to Hollywood where she garnered a role in the acclaimed 1922 version of Oliver Twist and in The Hunchback of Notre Dame the following year.

By the mid-1920s she was past the age of 30 and although still given top female billing, Brockwell performed mainly in supporting roles. Regarded as one of the finest character actresses of the day who not only adapted to sound films but excelled in them, her first appearance in a "talkie" came in 1928 in Lights of New York. Her performance received strong reviews at the time of the film's release and as well by present-day critics of the preserved film.

A Warner Bros. feature-length production, Lights of New York was filmed with microphones strategically hidden around the sets, creating the first motion picture released with fully synchronic dialogue. She was then signed by Warner Bros. and was looking forward to continued success in talkies.

Brockwell married actor Robert B. Broadwell on March 3, 1915. They separated on September 1, 1915, due to "Much quarreling and unpleasantness generally," as she told the court when she sought a divorce in March 1918. "We never seemed to agree on anything," she added. Los Angeles Judge Jackson granted her divorce decree on March 13, 1918, on grounds of desertion. On July 1, 1918, she married Harry Edwards, a film director, but the marriage was annulled the next year.

On June 27, 1929, Brockwell and a friend, Thomas Brennan, were involved in an automobile accident near Calabasas, California. She was crushed beneath the automobile driven by Brennan, an advertising man from Los Angeles, California. The auto went over a 75-foot (23 m) embankment on the Ventura Highway near Calabasas.

Seriously injured, four blood transfusions were performed in an effort to save her life, the last just before her death. Brennan recovered after sustaining serious injuries. He said a bit of dust had blown into his eye, temporarily blinding him. Following a second blood transfusion, Brockwell appeared to improve until peritonitis set in from her internal injuries, particularly a puncture of her large intestine.

After two more transfusions, Brockwell died at 7 p.m. on July 2, 1929, at Osteopathic Hospital. No negligence was placed on Brennan, who was still recovering in the hospital. Her final film, The Drake Case, was directed by Edward Laemmle while she was on loan to Universal Pictures, and was released posthumously in September 1929. Brockwell was cremated and her ashes given to her mother.

• Albert Lea (Minnesota) Evening Tribune, "Gladys Brockwell, Picture Actress, Dies of Injuries", (Wednesday, July 3, 1929) page 1
• New York Times, "Gladys Brockwell Dies" (July 3, 1929) page 14