Betty Balfour

Betty Balfour ( born March 27, 1903 in London, † November 4, 1977 in Weybridge, Surrey ) was a British actress. It was regarded as "Britain's Queen of Happiness " or the " British Mary Pickford ".

Betty Balfour had already made ​​her stage debut in 1913. In the theater she was discovered by TA Welsh and George Pearson and committed for a first film role in 1920. It was with comedies about the movie character " squibs " a popular actress of the 1920s in the UK and appeared in several George Pearson films, as well also in serious roles in Love, Life and Laughter (1923 ) and the patriotic stripe Reveille (1924 ). In 1926 she separated from the production company Welsh - Pearson after they had rejected an offer of marriage from George Pearson. Together with Ivor Novello she was the only British film actress who was renowned internationally in the 1920s. In Europe, they also appeared in German and French films ( with Marcel L' Herbier and Louis Mercanton ) in the second half of the '20s. In the UK they took over in 1928 starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Champagne.

Her first sound film was The Brat (1930 ) by Louis Mercanton; However, they could not reach their popularity of the silent era and played in only a few and small roles until the 1940s.

After a suicide attempt in 1952 because of an unsuccessful stage comebacks she lived the rest of her life withdrawn.