A popular child actress from the age of eight, Violet Mersereau was dubbed "The Child Wonder" after originating the role of Flora Cameron in The Clansman, the incendiary Thomas Dixon play that became the basis for D.W. Griffith's groundbreaking Birth of a Nation (made in 1915 with Mae Marsh as Flora). After touring in the title role of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Mersereau entered films in 1911 with the Los Angeles-based Nestor Company, a forerunner of Universal. With titles like The Spitfire, Little Miss Nobody (1917), and The Nature Girl (1919), Mersereau was a popular ingenue who, nevertheless, never gave Mary Pickford or the Gish sisters much to worry about. Nero (1922) was produced by Fox on location in Italy and was quite the spectacle, with Mersereau, the only American cast member, suddenly very grownup as a seductive Marcia. But she was innocent once again in Lend Me Your Wife (1924) in which she, the gardener's daughter, is nearly molested by a married man. There were a few more such roles to come but the vehicles were poor and she left films at the advent of sound. Mersereau's younger sister was the actress Claire Mersereau (1894-1982), with whom she appeared in The Avalanche (1915).
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Her Own Free Will
Actor |
1924 | |||
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Lend Me Your Husband
Actor |
1924 | |||
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Luck
Actor |
1923 | |||
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Shepherd King
Actor |
1923 | |||
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Nero
Actor |
1922 | |||
|
Thunderclap
Actor |
1921 | |||
|
Nature Girl
Actor |
1919 | |||
|
Girl by the Roadside
Actor |
1918 | |||
|
Morgan's Raiders
Actor |
1918 | |||
|
The Narrow Path
Actor |
1918 | |||
|
Together
Actor |
1918 | |||
|
Boy Girl
Actor |
1917 | |||
|
Little Miss Nobody
Actor |
1917 | |||
|
Raggedy Queen
Actor |
1917 | |||
|
Susan's Gentleman
Actor |
1917 | |||
|
Autumn
Actor |
1916 | |||
|
Honor of Mary Blake
Actor |
1916 | |||
|
Path of Happiness
Actor |
1916 | |||
|
The Avalanche
Actor |
1915 | |||
|
His Trust
Actor |
1911 | |||
|
His Trust Fulfilled
Actor |
1911 | |||
|
A Gold Necklace
Actor |
1910 | |||
|
Her Terrible Ordeal
Actor |
1910 | |||
|
One Night, and Then
Actor |
1910 | |||
|
Sunshine Sue
Actor |
1910 | |||
|
Suicide Club
Actor |
1909 | |||
| 1909 | ||||
|
The Friend of the Family
Actor |
1909 | |||
|
The Feud and the Turkey
Actor |
1908 | |||
|
The Test of Friendship
Actor |
1908 |