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Anna Q. Nilsson (1888-1974)
Anna Q. Nilsson (1888-1974)
The first Swedish actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Anna Q. Nilsson was born Anna Quirentia Nilsson in Ystad, Sweden on March 30th, 1888. She had a small taste of stage acting in Sweden and knew that to succeed in furthering her acting ambitions she would need to immigrate to America. This she did in 1910, getting her foot in the door as a paid nursemaid to children, learning English quickly, and eventually becoming a famous model, posing for many well known fashion photographers, illustrators and painters of the era. Her noteworthy illustration as the original "Penrhyn Stanlaws Girl" caused Anna to be hired for a role in a two-reel Kalem film called "Molly Pitcher" in 1911; she jumped at the opportunity. The next thing anyone knew she was a star, working tirelessly in many films for Famous Players - Paramount, Metro, Goldwyn, Mayflower, First National and Warner Brothers. Films of special note for Anna were "Seven Keys to Baldpate" (1917), "Soldiers of Fortune" (1919), "The Toll Gate" and "The Luck of the Irish" (both 1920), and "The Lotus Eater" (1921).Anna's film career and stardom might have continued without a hitch, but she was seriously injured in 1925, thrown into a stone wall by a horse and paralyzed. Anna was an invalid for one year, working with therapists and specialists in Sweden and Vienna until she was finally able to walk again. One of Nilsson's comeback films was "The Babe Comes Home" (1927), opposite baseball star Babe Ruth. When sound came in Anna gave up motion pictures for a time, concentrating on charity work. Through the next two decades she would play small uncredited roles in films, most notably a cameo role playing bridge in the silent movie spoof classic "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), opposite Gloria Swanson and other silent film old timers playing cameos, like Buster Keaton. Another small part in the musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954) proved to be Anna's last film experience. She was married and divorced twice and had no children. In the last decade of her life she moved to Sun City, California, and she died of heart failure on February 11th, 1974. ~ Copyright © 2004 goldensilents.com
Anna Q. Nilsson's Silent Films
Blockade (1928) .... Bess
Sorrell and Son (1927) .... Dora
Sorrell
Thirteenth Juror, The (1927) ....
Helen Marsden
Lonesome Ladies (1927) .... Polly
Fosdick
Babe Comes Home (1927) .... Vernie
Easy Pickings (1927) .... Mry Ryan
Masked Woman, The (1927) .... Diane
Delatour
Midnight Lovers (1926) .... Diana
Fothergill
Miss Nobody (1926) .... Barbara
Brown
Greater Glory, The (1926) .... Fanny
Her Second Chance (1926) .... Mrs.
Constance Lee/Caroline Logan
Too Much Money (1926) .... Annabel
Broadley
Splendid Road, The (1925) .... Sandra
De Hault
Winds of Chance (1925) .... Countess
Courteau
Talker, The (1925) .... Kate Lennox
One Way Street (1925) .... Lady
Sylvia Hutton
If I Marry Again (1925) .... Alicia
Wingate
Top of the World, The (1925) ....
Sylvia Ingleton
Inez from Hollywood (1924) ....
Inez Laranetta
... aka Good Bad Girl, The (1924)
Hello Frisco (1924)
Vanity's Price (1924) .... Vaana
Du Maurier
Breath of Scandal, The (1924)
Side Show of Life, The (1924) ....
Lady Auriol Dayne
Fire Patrol, The (1924) .... Mary
Ferguson
Broadway After Dark (1924) ....
Helen Tremaine
Between Friends (1924) .... Jessica
Drene
Anna Q. Nilsson, Silent Star
Flowing Gold (1924) .... Allegheny
Briskow
Painted People (1924) .... Leslie
Carter
Half-a-Dollar Bill (1924) .... The
Stranger (Mrs. Webber)
Judgment of the Storm, The (1924)
Enemies of Children (1923)
Innocence (1923) .... Fay Leslie
Thundering Dawn (1923) .... Mary
Rogers
Ponjola (1923) .... Lady Flavia
Desmond
Adam's Rib (1923) .... Mrs. Michael
Ramsay
Hollywood (1923) .... Cameo appearance
... aka Joligud (1923)
Spoilers, The (1923) .... Cherry
Malotte
Rustle of Silk, The (1923) ....
Lady Feo
Souls for Sale (1923) .... Celebrity
Isle of Lost Ships, The (1923) ....
Dorothy Fairfax
Hearts Aflame (1923) .... Helen
Foraker
Pink Gods (1922) .... Lady Margot
Cork
Man from Home, The (1922) .... Genevieve
Granger-Simpson
Three Live Ghosts (1922) .... Ivis
Värmlänningarna (1921)
.... Anna
Ten Nights in a Bar Room (1921)
Lotus Eater, The (1921) .... Madge
Vance
Why Girls Leave Home (1921) ....
Anna Hedder
Oath, The (1921/I) .... Irene Lansing
Without Limit (1921) .... Ember
Edwards
What Women Will Do (1921) .... Lily
Gibbs
Brute Master, The (1920) .... Madeline
Grey
In the Heart of a Fool (1920) ....
Margaret Muller
Fighting Chance, The (1920) ....
Sylvia Landis
One Hour Before Dawn (1920) ....
Ellen Aldrich
Figurehead, The (1920) .... Mary
Forbes
Toll Gate, The (1920) .... Mary
Brown
Luck of the Irish, The (1920) ....
Ruth Warren
Thirteenth Commandment, The (1920)
.... Leila Kip
Soldiers of Fortune (1919) ....
Alice Langham
Her Kingdom of Dreams (1919) ....
Carlotta Stanmore
Love Burglar, The (1919) .... Joan
Gray
Sporting Chance, A (1919/II) ....
Pamela Brent
Very Good Young Man, A (1919) ....
Viva Bacchus
Way of the Strong (1919) .... Audrie
Hendrie/Monica Norton
Cheating Cheaters (1919) .... Grace
Palmer
Venus in the East (1919) .... Mrs.
Pat Dyvenot
Ravished Armenia (1919) .... Edith
Graham
... aka Auction of Souls (1919)
(USA: first title)
Anna Q. Nilsson in "The Vanity Pool" (1918),
co-starring Franklyn Farnum and Thomas Holding
Vanity Pool, The (1918) .... Carol
Harper
In Judgment of... (1918) .... Mary
Manners
No Man's Land (1918) .... Katherine
Gresham
Trail to Yesterday, The (1918) ....
Sheila Langford
Heart of the Sunset (1918) ....
Alaire Austin
Seven Keys to Baldpate (1917) ....
Mary Norton
Over There (1917) .... Bettie Adams
Silent Master, The (1917) .... Undetermined
Role
Inevitable, The (1917) .... Florence
Grey
Moral Code, The (1917) .... Jean
Hyland
Infidelity (1917) .... Elaine Bernard
Puppets of Fate (1916)
Sowing the Wind (1916)
Tight Rein, The (1916) (as Anna
Nilsson)
Her Surrender (1916) (as Anna Nilsson)
....
Rhoda Cortlandt
Supreme Sacrifice, The (1916) ....
Helen Chambers
... aka To Him That Hath (1916)
(USA)
Scarlet Road, The (1916) .... Betty
Belgrave
Barriers Swept Aside (1915)
Destroyer, The (1915/II)
Haunted House of Wild Isle, The
(1915)
Haunting Fear, The (1915)
Hiding from the Law (1915)
In the Hands of the Jury (1915)
Night of the Embassy Ball, The (1915)
.... Nora, the maid
Rivals (1915)
Second Commandment, The (1915)
Siren's Reign, The (1915) .... The
Other Woman
... aka Reign of the Siren, The
(1915) (USA)
Sister's Burden, A (1915)
Voices in the Dark (1915)
Barbara Frietchie (1915) .... Sue
Negly
Regeneration (1915) .... Marie 'Mamie
Rose' Deering
... aka Regeneration, The (1915)
(USA: review title)
Ex-Convict, The (1914)
Man in the Vault, The (1914)
Man with the Glove, The (1914)
Perils of the White Lights (1914)
Secret of the Will, The (1914)
Shot in the Dark, A (1914)
Tell-Tale Stains (1914)
Wolfe; Or, The Conquest of Quebec
(1914) (as Anna Nilsson) .... Mignon Mars
Breath of Scandal, The (1913)
Captured by Strategy (1913)
Counterfeiter's Confederate, The
(1913)
Fatal Legacy, The (1913)
Infamous Don Miguel (1913)
John Burns of Gettysburg (1913)
Shenandoah (1913)
Shipwrecked (1913)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1913/II)
Retribution (1913/I)
Man in the World of Men, A (1913)
Gypsy's Brand, The (1913)
Mississippi Tragedy, A (1913)
Battle of Bloody Ford, The (1913)
Prisoners of War (1913)
Grim Toll of War, The (1913)
Turning Point, The (1913)
Desperate Chance, A (1913)
Sawmill Hazard, A (1913)
Treacherous Shot, A (1913)
Pony Express Girl, The (1912)
Toll Gate Raiders, The (1912)
Race with Time, A (1912)
Farm Bully, The (1912)
Water Rights War, The (1912)
Battle of Wits, A (1912)
Battle in the Virginia Hills (1912)
Fraud at the Hope Mine, The (1912)
Girl in the Caboose, The (1912)
His Mother's Picture (1912)
Confederate Ironclad, The (1912)
(uncredited) .... Elinor
Grit of the Girl Telegrapher, The
(1912) .... Betty
Railroad Lochinvar, A (1912)
Darling of the CSA, The (1912)
Saved from Court Martial (1912)
Prison Ship, The (1912)
Soldier Brothers of Susanna, The
(1912)
Siege of Petersburg, The (1912)
Bugler of Battery B, The (1912)
Filibusters, The (1912)
Colonel's Escape, The (1912)
Drummer Girl of Vicksburg, The (1912)
Under a Flag of Truce (1912) ....
Rose Neville
'Fighting' Dan McCool (1912)
War's Havoc (1912)
Tide of Battle (1912)
Victim of Circumstances (1912)
Battle of Pottsburg Bridge (1912)
Two Spies (1912)
Molly Pitcher (1911) .... Molly
Pitcher
To learn more about Anna Q. Nilsson visit her profile on The Internet Movie Datase