Betty Brice

Biography

"Known professionally as Betty Brice, Rosetta Dewart Brice entered the world on August 4, 1888, in Sunbury, Pennsylvania – a birthdate often misreported as 1892. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lincoln Brice, she grew up and received her education in Washington, D.C. Possessing a captivating presence, marked by Titian-red hair, green eyes, and a trim 5'6\" frame weighing 124 pounds, Brice displayed a precocious dramatic flair. Her early stage training led to a theatrical debut in Washington at fifteen, followed by extensive work in stock companies across Baltimore and Philadelphia.\n\nThe year 1913 marked a pivotal shift for Brice. While performing with the Orpheum Stock Company at Philadelphia's Chestnut Street Theater, she felt the lure of the nascent motion picture industry. Seeking an interview with the Lubin Film Company's general manager, she impressed Ira M. Lowry during her screen test and was promptly hired. Brice candidly confessed her primary motivation for entering film: a desire to witness her own performances. As she explained to the Dramatic Mirror in 1915, she craved the unique thrill of seeing herself on screen, a fascination that never waned.\n\nBrice's cinematic debut arrived in the summer of 1913 with Lubin's two-reel Civil War drama, The Price of Victory, filmed at Betzwood. Her very first day plunged her into the heart of the action: clad in 1860s costume, she bravely leaped into the Perkiomen Creek to portray a heroine sacrificing herself by blowing up a bridge amidst a fierce battle, ultimately crushed by the falling debris. Far from deterred by such physical demands, the naturally athletic Brice, who adored riding and swimming, found exhilaration in the \"outdoor life\" offered by the Betzwood studio. Another surviving Betzwood production featuring her, alongside Thurston Hall and Octavia Handworth, is Sweeter Than Revenge.\n\nRosetta Brice possessed a formidable independent spirit, a fiery temperament, and a clear disregard for conventional feminine expectations. At twenty, in 1908, her engagement to society scion Horace Carpentier Hurlbutt made headlines in Washington newspapers. However, when Hurlbutt opposed her acting career, Brice decisively broke off the engagement, marrying John O. La Gorce, Secretary of the National Geographic Society, instead. This marriage, however, dissolved after only a few years. Her independent streak resurfaced in 1915 when she faced a Philadelphia court on charges of stealing two diamond rings; her defiant demeanor during the proceedings captivated the press. Later that year, already recognized at the studio for her occasional lively gatherings, she offered an equally defiant response to a Dramatic Mirror reporter probing the alleged loose morals of movie actresses, asserting that a woman's profession could not dictate her personal ethics.\n\nIn 1915, the Lubin Company brought on actor-director John H. Pratt, placing Brice under his guidance. Their collaboration proved fruitful, with Pratt steering her through several acclaimed films that consistently earned praise from critics. Their professional synergy soon blossomed into a personal bond, leading to Brice's marriage to the considerably older \"Smiling Jack\" Pratt. The couple remained with Lubin until its dissolution in 1916, subsequently returning to the stage before eventually relocating to Los Angeles to revive their cinematic careers.\n\nMysteriously, Brice's film career concluded in the early 1920s, even as her husband continued to pursue acting roles. Her final screen appearance was a minor part in the 1924 production of Beau Brummel, starring John Barrymore. She passed away in Van Nuys, California, on February 15, 1935, at the age of 46."