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Under the stage name "Ethlyne Clair," red-haired actress Ethlyne Williamson rose to fame in the late 1920s in Hollywood in such serial pictures as the silent western Queen of the Northwoods. This still photo from Queen shows her in a scene with actor Walter Miller.
The year Queen was released, in 1929, Ethylene was named as one of 13 "Baby Stars" by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers. She once told a newspaper that she "wanted to do big things and become a big star, not ride horses through the desert. I thought I was above all that. I just wanted to be a beautiful vamp."
During a trip to Tijuana, Mexico on June 8, 1928, purportedly at the point of a gun, she became the third wife of our cousin Richard Lansdale "Dale" Hanshaw, son of Harry M. and Marion A. "Bertie" (Rogers) Hanshaw of Grafton, WV and New York City. At that time, Dale was president of a filmmaking business in Hollywood and had big plans, actively acquiring film rights to a number of stories.
The Hanshaw marriage ended within two-and-a-half months, with the couple separating on Aug. 25. The New York Daily News quipped that the union may not have "run smoothly after the Tijuana haze has worn off." Ethlyne filed for divorce in Los Angeles, claiming Dale had made "promises of stardom" which were "never kept" and that he " 'nagged, pestered and badgered her' until her life wasn't worth living." When the divorce decree was approved on Feb. 14, 1929, a friend gave her a paper heart symbolizing a "reverse valentine."
Dale entered into marriage a fourth time with yet another actress and settled in North Hollywood. After failing financially during the Great Depression, and facing losing their home, the couple together gave up on life. More>>>
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Copyright © 2022 Mark A. Miner |
