AllMovie

One of the most popular action heroines of the early silent era, brunette Edith Storey later became one of the screen's great tragediennes, winning accolades for her starring roles in The Christian (1914) and A Florida Enchantment. A child actress who had starred opposite stage actress Eleanor Robson in Audrey, Storey gained further fame touring America as The Little Princess and traveling to Australia with the original production of Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. In 1908, she joined the New York-based Vitagraph company, where she supported stage diva Julia Arthur in the civil war melodrama Barbara Fritchie (1908) and played in one-reel versions of King Lear (1909), The Life of Moses (1910), and Twelfth Night (1911). On loan to the Méliès company of San Antonio, TX, she played the brave Lucy Dickinson in the one-reel The Immortal Alamo (1911) and was stalwart as A Western Heroine (1911). There were many other such roles and by 1914 she had become a major box-office attraction for Vitagraph. The Christian made her a household name but she was equally popular in such fare as The Island of Regeneration (1915), which also featured Antonio Moreno and an earthquake, and The Two Edged Sword (1916) in which she played a vengeful secretary. Leaving Vitagraph after Aladdin from Broadway (1917), Storey signed instead with newcomer Metro. By then, however, America had entered World War I and she would spend most of her time as a volunteer ambulance driver in France -- much like Clara Bow did in Wings (1927). Returning to films after the duration, Storey was mainly seen in potboilers and she retired after a couple of minor melodramas for low-budget company Robertson-Cole in 1921. Despite being awarded one of the first stars on Hollywood's "Walk of Fame" (hers is located at 1501 Vine), Storey was all but forgotten by even the most ardent of silent screen fans and died in complete obscurity.