A contest winner in her native Chicago, brunette silent screen ingenue Gertrude Olmstead (or, as it was sometimes spelled, "Olmsted") appeared opposite Greta Garbo in the Swedish star's first Hollywood film, The Torrent (1926). That role, along with the leading femme role in Lon Chaney's The Monster (1925), proved perhaps the highlights of a screen career that had begun in low-budget, two-reel Westerns opposite the likes of Hoot Gibson, Jack Perrin, and Roy Stewart. According to herself, Olmstead was "just possibly the world's worst actress," and she wisely retired to marry director Robert Z. Leonard right before the changeover to sound. She later spoke fondly of her early years in Westerns, crediting veteran stunt player Artie Ortego with teaching her how to perform a flying mount.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Sonny Boy
Actor |
1929 | |||
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The Lone Wolf's Daughter
Actor |
1929 | |||
| 1929 | ||||
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Bringing Up Father
Actor |
1928 | |||
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Cheer Leader
Actor |
1928 | |||
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Hey Rube!
Actor |
1928 | |||
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Hit of the Snow
Actor |
1928 | |||
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Midnight Life
Actor |
1928 | |||
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Passion Song
Actor |
1928 | |||
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Sporting Goods
Actor |
1928 | |||
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Sweet Sixteen
Actor |
1928 | |||
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Woman Against the World
Actor |
1928 | |||
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Becky
Actor |
1927 | |||
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Buttons
Actor |
1927 | |||
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Cheerful Fraud
Actor |
1927 | |||
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Mr. Wu
Actor |
1927 | |||
| 1927 | ||||
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Boob
Actor |
1926 | |||
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Monte Carlo
Actor |
1926 | |||
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Puppets
Actor |
1926 | |||
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Sweet Adeline
Actor |
1926 | |||
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The Torrent
Actor |
1926 | |||
| 1925 | ||||
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Cobra
Actor |
1925 | |||
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The Monster
Actor |
1925 | |||
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Time, the Comedian
Actor |
1925 | |||
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Babbitt
Actor |
1924 | |||
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Empty Hands
Actor |
1924 | |||
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George Washington, Jr.
Actor |
1924 | |||
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Ladies to Board
Actor |
1924 | |||
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Lover's Lane
Actor |
1924 | |||
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Cameo Kirby
Actor |
1923 | |||
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Trilby
Actor |
1923 | |||
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The Loaded Door
Actor |
1922 | |||
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The Scrapper
Actor |
1922 | |||
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Fox
Actor |
1921 | |||
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Shadows of Conscience
Actor |
1921 | |||
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The Torrent
Actor |
1921 |