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Discovered in Denmark by film pioneer David S. Horsley, former beauty contest winner Valkyrien (aka Valda Valkyrien and Baroness DeWitz) swept onto American screens playing a strange white goddess bewitching an American divinity student in The Hidden Valley (1916). Soon after, she portrayed an Egyptian sculptress in love with a prince in The Image Maker (1917); both films came courtesy of the Thanhouser company in Jacksonville, FL. With her long, blonde mane, vague aristocratic lineage, and bizarre opinions on any subject thrown her way by fan magazine writers, Valkyrien (born Adele von Friesenfeldt) was well on her way to stardom in the war years of 1916 and 1917. Producer William Fox hired her to play the title role in the society melodrama The Unwelcome Mother (1917), but then failed a contractual obligation to bill her ahead of co-star Walter Law. She sued, lost, and was demoted to supporting roles thereafter. Leaving films altogether after a low-budget red scare melodrama, Bolshevism on Trial (1919), Valkyrien appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies for one season before retiring completely into private life. A comeback attempt in the late '20s proved unsuccessful.