Elsie Janis

Elsie Janis

Born: March 16, 1889
Died: February 26, 1956
From Wikipedia

Elsie Janis (March 16, 1889 – February 26, 1956) was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and screenwriter. Entertaining the troops during World War I immortalized her as "the sweetheart of the AEF" (American Expeditionary Force). Janis was a tireless advocate for British and American soldiers fighting in World War I. She raised funds for Liberty Bonds. Janis also took her act on the road, entertaining troops stationed near the front lines - one of the first popular American artists to do so in a war fought on foreign soil. Ten days after the armistice she recorded for HMV several numbers from her revue Hullo, America, including Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girl.

She wrote about her wartime experiences in The Big Show: My Six Months with the American Expeditionary Forces (published in 1919), and recreated them in a 1926 Vitaphone musical short, Behind the Lines. A new musical about this period of her life called "Elsie Janis and the Boys", written by Carol J. Crittenden and composer John T. Prestianni, premiered as part of the Rotunda Theatre Series in the Wortley-Peabody Theater in Dallas, TX on August 15, 2014. Her final film was the 1940 Women in War co-starring Wendy Barrie and Peter Cushing.

Elsie Janis died in 1956 at her home in Beverly Hills, California, aged 66, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Elsie Janis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6776 Hollywood Blvd.

Movies for Elsie Janis...

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4
Title: Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1942
Type: Movie
Fourth film in the Hedda Hopper series.
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Women in War
Title: Women in War
Character: Matron O'Neil
Released: June 5, 1940
Type: Movie
A "good-time girl", raised by her somewhat lax divorced father, finds herself involved in an accidental death, and the only way she's able to get out of it is to volunteer--albeit reluctantly--to be a nurse in the war effort. She travels to England and is assigned to a hospital under a very strict matron. What the girl doesn't know is that the matron is the mother she has never seen.
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Behind the Lines
Title: Behind the Lines
Released: October 4, 1926
Type: Movie
Elsie Janis entertains the troops from the back of a truck. She calls a French soldier up to sing with her, then dances to an American song while everyone sings, and finally shares the stage with an English soldier.
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The Imp
Title: The Imp
Released: February 15, 1919
Type: Movie
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Photoplay Magazine Screen Supplement #6
Title: Photoplay Magazine Screen Supplement #6
Character: Herself
Released: January 1, 1919
Type: Movie
Shows brief glimpses into the lives of movie stars of the time. Included is shots of Elsie Janis in her garden in Tarrytown, where she gives an impersonation of Mary Pickford. The film also shows the parts of the marriage ceremony between James Cruze and Marquerite Snow on January 28, 1913. The film claims this to be the first marriage to be captured on film. The film then moves on to some shots of Louise Glaum and her mother. This in turn is followed with a behind the scenes filming of a stunt involving a bathtub. The film then ends with some shots of Clara Kimball Young, Teddy (Mack Sennett's dog) and finally Marie Prevost.
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Nearly a Lady
Title: Nearly a Lady
Released: August 12, 1915
Type: Movie
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Betty in Search of a Thrill
Title: Betty in Search of a Thrill
Released: May 17, 1915
Type: Movie
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The Caprices of Kitty
Title: The Caprices of Kitty
Released: March 8, 1915
Type: Movie