Louise Fazenda

Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 – April 17, 1962) was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films.

Fazenda was born in her maternal grandparents' house in Lafayette, Indiana, the daughter of merchandise broker Joseph A. Fazenda, who was born in Mexico, and Nelda T. Schilling Fazenda, a Chicago native. She was of Portuguese, French, and Italian descent on her father's side and of German descent on her mother's.

The Fazenda family relocated to California, where Joseph Fazenda opened up a grocery store. Louise attended Los Angeles High School and St. Mary's Convent and kept busy with a number of after-school jobs, one of which was delivering groceries for the family business via a horse-drawn wagon.

Fazenda was discovered by a scout employed by Mack Sennett in a high school comedy show. She made her first film in 1913. She was best known as a character actor in silent films, playing roles such as a fussy old maid and a blacksmith. She briefly left films during 1921 and 1922 to perform vaudeville. Her transition into talking pictures led to more serious roles. The Old Maid, in 1939, was her last of her nearly 300 movie appearances.

In 1927, Fazenda married Hal B. Wallis, a producer at Warner Bros., and they remained married until her death. They had one son, Brent, who became a psychiatrist.

Fazenda died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Beverly Hills, California. Wallis was in Hawaii making a film and left immediately for home. She was interred at the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. At her funeral, many stories were told of Fazenda's volunteer work, such as caring for children at UCLA Medical Center and taking in two children during World War II.

Fazenda has a star at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.