Edna May Sperl (1899  – 1957)[citation needed] was an American silent film actress during the 1910s and 1920s. She was in actor and director Edgar Jones's films including Knight of the Pines and Cupid, Registered Guide, frequently as the leading woman. Alongside Jones, she also starred in the Holman Day series of seven two-reel films and the following series of films commissioned by Pathé Exchange. An avid enjoyer of the outdoors, Sperl stated that she loved the freedom of producing films in the wilderness and the thrill of the dangerous stunts she was able to perform.

Edna May Sperl
See caption
Sperl c. 1922
OccupationActress
Years active1917–1924
Notable workLonesome Corners
His Darker Self

Career

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In 1919, Sperl became friends with actor Edgar Jones as he was beginning work on a series of new silent film productions for the photodrama company Big Woods. She accompanied him to his studio in Augusta, Maine, and the wooded regions of the state to work on becoming "known principally as a star of the great out-of-doors."[1] The first series of Jones's films were completed in August 1920, where Sperl then took a month's vacation before returning at the end of September to begin the second drama series.[2] She went on to become the leading woman in multiple Holman Day films.[3] The success of the Holman Day series resulted in the film company Pathé Exchange hiring Jones and Sperl in August 1921 to make a new series of films set in the woods of Maine, beginning with 1921s The Black Ace.[4]

During the filming of 1921s Caught in the Rapids with Jones, Sperl filmed a scene while on a raft in the middle of a river. Jones's role was to save her as a part of the film, but when the raft began breaking into pieces due to the rapids, he had to truly save her due to Sperl being a poor swimmer.[5] In an article for the Orlando Evening Star, Sperl acknowledged that she enjoyed doing outdoors films the most because of the "freedom of the woods and plains", along with the "thrill of a lifetime" from the dangerous stunts and performances she was in. Her favorite character role was playing as Lora Farrell in Single-Handed Sam.[6]

In October 1921, Sperl traveled with the other actors of Edgar Jones's studio to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where the United States Motion Picture Company had commissioned them to use the area as their new filming studio and location.[7]

Theater

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  • The Leap Year Girls (1917)[8]
  • The Rounder of Old Broadway (1918) as the pickpocket[9]

Filmography

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Personal life

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While touring as a theater actress in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1916, Sperl met Sergeant William Caldwell Cottingham, son of Sherwin-Williams president Walter H. Cottingham. He was unaware that she was in theater at the time and they quickly became engaged. In March 1918, he attended her performance of The Rounder of Old Broadway for the first time and they planned to be married after the show. Cottingham's father, however, had obtained the help of the sergeant's commanding officer at Camp Sheridan to have a federal marshal to arrest him for abandoning his post in order to prevent the marriage from occurring.[28][29]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Edna May Sperl". The Burlington Free Press. September 15, 1920. Retrieved April 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Returns To Work". Akron Evening Times. September 28, 1920. Retrieved April 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Daring Stunts Have No Terror for Edna May Sperl". Detroit Free Press. March 27, 1921. Retrieved April 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "A New Series of Holman Day Films Contracted for by Pathe". The Moving Picture World. The World Photographic Publishing Company. August 13, 1921. p. 719. Retrieved April 19, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ "Holman Day Perils". The Morning Call. April 2, 1921. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b Sperl, Edna May (June 27, 1921). "Why I Like To Play Outdoor Characters". Orlando Evening Star. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "To Make Pictures In The Valley". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. October 24, 1921. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Musical Play at Cross Keys". The Philadelphia Inquirer. July 31, 1917. Retrieved April 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Temple - Vaudeville". Detroit Free Press. September 3, 1918. Retrieved April 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Imperial Presents Drama Acclaimed By Critics Of Both States And Canada". The Ottawa Citizen. May 8, 1920. Retrieved April 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Edgar Jones At The Jewel Today In "A Knight Of The Pines"". Hamilton Evening Journal. August 6, 1920. Retrieved April 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Love Among the "Rum-runners"". Shawnee News-Star. February 10, 1921. Retrieved April 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "A Lively Mixed Bill at Hippodrome Today". Leavenworth Post. February 24, 1921. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Bijou". The Wilmington Morning Star. February 25, 1921. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "A Lively Mixed Bill at Hippodrome Today". The Leavenworth Times. April 30, 1921. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Collins, Steve (June 11, 2023). "Maine silent film festival is something to talk about". Sun-Journal. pp. B1, B7. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "At the Dreamland". The Akron Beacon Journal. May 28, 1921. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Holman Day Picture". Kennebec Journal. June 20, 1921. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Double Bill For Rialto Patrons". The Dayton Herald. September 2, 1921. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Sewell, C. S. (October 22, 1921). "The Flaming Trail". The Moving Picture World. The World Photographic Publishing Company. p. 947. Retrieved April 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "New Film of Maine Woods". The Charlotte Observer. November 6, 1921. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Cupid, Registered Guide". Exhibitor's Trade Review. Vol. 10, no. 24. Exhibitor's Trade Review Inc. November 12, 1921. p. 1662. Retrieved April 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Century". The South Bend Tribune. March 10, 1922. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Century". The South Bend Tribune. April 7, 1922. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Lonesome Corners". The Galveston Daily News. April 30, 1922. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ Oscar, John (August 19, 1922). "Lonesome Corners". Motion Picture News. Motion Picture News, Inc. p. 918. Retrieved April 19, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  27. ^ Wlaschin, Ken (2009). Silent Mystery and Detective Movies: A Comprehensive Filmography. McFarland & Company. p. 109. ISBN 9780786454297.
  28. ^ "Uncle Sam Separates Beauty And Soldier". The Chattanooga News. March 19, 1918. Retrieved April 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Girl Fights For Her Soldier Boy Millionaire". The Modesto Bee. March 18, 1918. Retrieved April 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.