Gene Gauntier (born Genevieve Gauntier Liggett, May 17, 1885 â€"
December 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter and actress who was
one of the pioneers of the motion picture industry. A writer,
director, and actress in films from mid 1906 to 1920, she wrote
screenplays for 42 films. She performed in 87 films and is credited as
the director of The Grandmother (1909).Born as Genevieve Gauntier
Liggett in Kansas City, Missouri, to James Wesley and Ada J. Gauntier
Liggett, she was the middle child of three children. Her older brother
was Richard Green Liggett (1880â€"1941) and her sister was Marguerite
Gauntier Liggett (1891â€"1973), who married Swedish billionaire Axel
Wenner-Gren. Gauntier attended the Kansas City School of Oratory while
in Kansas City. In 1904, she began her stage career. Gauntier made her
way to New York City where she began her career in live theater using
the stage name "Gene Gauntier," and first appeared in films between
acting jobs with stock company tours. She remembered in her 1928
autobiography Blazing the Trail:In June 1906, Gauntier was literally
thrown into her first screen assignment when she was hired for a
daredevil stunt, being filmed as a damsel thrown into a river for
Biograph's The Paymaster. It was a one-reeler, where she first met her
long-time friend Sidney Olcott and Frank Marion.Gauntier then returned
to stage acting as the lead female role in George Ade's The County
Chairman at Kansas City's Grand Opera House.
December 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter and actress who was
one of the pioneers of the motion picture industry. A writer,
director, and actress in films from mid 1906 to 1920, she wrote
screenplays for 42 films. She performed in 87 films and is credited as
the director of The Grandmother (1909).Born as Genevieve Gauntier
Liggett in Kansas City, Missouri, to James Wesley and Ada J. Gauntier
Liggett, she was the middle child of three children. Her older brother
was Richard Green Liggett (1880â€"1941) and her sister was Marguerite
Gauntier Liggett (1891â€"1973), who married Swedish billionaire Axel
Wenner-Gren. Gauntier attended the Kansas City School of Oratory while
in Kansas City. In 1904, she began her stage career. Gauntier made her
way to New York City where she began her career in live theater using
the stage name "Gene Gauntier," and first appeared in films between
acting jobs with stock company tours. She remembered in her 1928
autobiography Blazing the Trail:In June 1906, Gauntier was literally
thrown into her first screen assignment when she was hired for a
daredevil stunt, being filmed as a damsel thrown into a river for
Biograph's The Paymaster. It was a one-reeler, where she first met her
long-time friend Sidney Olcott and Frank Marion.Gauntier then returned
to stage acting as the lead female role in George Ade's The County
Chairman at Kansas City's Grand Opera House.
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