by Hal Erickson
biography
Actress Ethel Wales made her first film appearance in Cecil B. DeMille's The Whispering Chorus (1918). Wales remained a DeMille regular until the early '30s, playing such small but indelible roles as the Roman matron who complains that she's been seated too far away to see the Christians being devoured by lions in Sign of the Cross (1932). She also worked for C.B.'s director brother William in the exceptional 1921 drama Miss Lulu Bett. Ethel Wales remained active in films until 1950.
