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Flora le Breton (born 1898, died 11 July 1951 in Brooklyn, New York, USA) was an English silent film actress from Croydon, Surrey, England. She was blonde with dark blue eyes. In the UK she was called the British Mary Pickford.
Her ancestry was English, French, Scottish and Irish. Her Scottish heritage was lengthy. She was related to Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll. Her home was the ancestral Ware Park. It dated to the 15th century. Le Breton's mother was widowed and her brother was killed in World War I. Her sister married a major and resided in Hong Kong.
She trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic
Flora le Breton (born 1898, died 11 July 1951 in Brooklyn, New York, USA) was an English silent film actress from Croydon, Surrey, England. She was blonde with dark blue eyes. In the UK she was called the British Mary Pickford.
Her ancestry was English, French, Scottish and Irish. Her Scottish heritage was lengthy. She was related to Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll. Her home was the ancestral Ware Park. It dated to the 15th century. Le Breton's mother was widowed and her brother was killed in World War I. Her sister married a major and resided in Hong Kong.
She trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Le Breton earned a scholarship there at the age of fifteen. Founded by Sir Herbert Tree, the academy grant was presented to her by Sir Squire Bancroft and Sir John Hare.
She secured the role of a London flower girl and played opposite Sir Gerald du Maurier for an entire year in the English capital. She was noticed by Andre Charlot, who envisioned her as an English soubrette. He put Le Breton in several revues in which she sang and performed a stiff-legged doll dance that became the highlight of the shows.
Le Breton's film career began in 1920 with a role as Alesia in La Poupee. In 1922 she co-starred with George K. Arthur and Simeon Stuart in Love's Influence, originally titled Love's April. The French heavyweight boxer, Georges Carpentier, made a cameo appearance in the British silent film. Le Breton won many of the London film favourite contests along with actress Betty Balfour. She appeared in the first coloured film made in Great Britain. The Glorious Adventure (1922) starred Lady Diana Cooper and Victor McLaglen. Produced by J. Stuart Blackton, founder of Vitagraph Studios, the film was made in Prizma colour.
As a dancer Le Breton and her partner, Cecil Rubens, won the world's amateur dancing championship in February 1923.
Le Breton arrived in America in January 1924. Among her early Hollywood films is Another Scandal (1924). She had the third lead after Lois Wilson and Holmes Herbert. Shot in Florida, the film was a production of the Tilford Cinema Corporation. Le Breton was among those considered for the role of Peter Pan in Peter Pan, which was adapted from the novel by Sir James Barrie. She chose not to play additional parts like the vamp character, Mrs. May Beamish, she performed in Another Scandal. She appeared in the melodrama I Am The Man (1924) with Lionel Barrymore. Her last screen credit came in the Columbia Pictures comedy Charley's Aunt (1930). Le Breton played the part of Ela Delahay.
Le Breton sent for her mother in Britain and placed her in a Beverly Hills, California home after she became a star in the U.S..
In her first year in the United States Le Breton acted the part of a waif who inherits the wealth of a long-lost grandfather, Lord Maxwell. The play was Lass o' Laughter. Her character necessitates that she enunciate a Glaswegian Scottish accent. A reviewer praised her appearance, commenting Miss Le Breton's beauty is of the Dresden doll type. In November 1925 she was featured in the Henry W. Savage production, The Balcony Walker, which played the Lyric Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut. By March 1926 she had given up her film career to appear in a New York City revue, The Optimists. Le Breton was reviewed favourably for her role in the School For Husbands, which was produced by the Theatre Guild in 1933. Osgood Perkins and June Walker were among those in the play.
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