2013 Essays

Leah Baird

Blaetz, Robin

In marking the death of Leah Baird, known chiefly as an actor in the silent period, Variety stated that she “was reputed to have written some of her own films” (55). With less sense of incredulity, production notes for a later film (Caged, 1950), in which Baird worked as an extra, refer to her as “a silent day star [who] once owned her own production company.” Although most references to Baird in the silent period in newspapers and trade journals stress her screen performances and her relation to the theatrical stage, she remains an intriguing figure for the sheer number of films on which she worked, for her interest in writing throughout her professional life, and for the length of her career, which spanned from 1911 to 1956.