author
Linda Arvidson
1884–1949
An early silent-film performer who helped shape American cinema at Biograph Studios, she later left behind a vivid memoir of moviemaking’s first years. Her life bridges the stage, the birth of film stardom, and one of the industry’s most formative eras.
1 Audiobook
When the movies were young
by Linda Arvidson
About the author
Born in San Francisco in 1884, Linda Arvidson was a stage and silent-film actress who became one of the recognizable faces of early American movies. She worked at Biograph Studios in New York during the years before screen credits were routinely given, and she is often associated with the first wave of film performers who helped define what screen acting could look like.
Arvidson also has a lasting place in film history through her connection to director D. W. Griffith, whom she married, and through her own firsthand account of the period. Her 1925 memoir, When the Movies Were Young, is still valued as a lively window into the chaotic, inventive beginnings of the movie business.
She died in New York City in 1949. Today, she is remembered not only for her acting, but also for preserving the feel of cinema's earliest days in her own voice.