Mildred Harris

Mildred Harris (November 29, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American stage, film, and vaudeville actress during the early part of the 20th century. Harris began her career in the film industry as a child actress when she was age 10. She was also the first wife of Charlie Chaplin. Early life Harris was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on November 29, 1901. Her parents were telegraph operator Harry Harris and Anna Parsons Foote. Harris made her first screen appearance at age 10 in the 1912 Francis Ford- and Thomas H. Ince-directed Western short The Post Telegrapher. She followed the film with various juvenile roles, often appearing opposite child actor Paul Willis. In 1914, she was hired by The Oz Film Manufacturing Company to portray Fluff in The Magic Cloak of Oz and Button-Bright in His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. In 1916, at age 15, she appeared as a harem girl in Griffith's film Intolerance. Career In the 1920s, Harris transitioned from child actress to leading roles with Conrad Nagel, Charley Chase, Milton Sills, Lionel Barrymore, Rod La Rocque and the Moore brothers, Owen and Tom. She appeared in Frank Capra's 1928 silent drama The Power of the Press with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Jobyna Ralston, and the same year, she starred in Universal Pictures first sound film Melody of Love with Walter Pidgeon.