Alice Howell (May 20, 1886 â€" April 11, 1961) was a silent film
comedy actress from New York City. She was the mother of actress
Yvonne Howell.Early reviews of her movies describe her as "the scream
of the screen". One reviewer likened her to a "sort of Charlie
Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and Max Linder." All this was
compressed into "one more or less diminutive package of femininity".
Sometimes called "the girl Charlie Chaplin", she worked for Mack
Sennett and later L-KO Kompany. Her early comedies were often produced
by Universal Pictures.At Mack Sennett’s Keystone Film Company,
Howell quickly worked her way up from crowd scenes to featured parts
in shorts such as Charlie Chaplin’s Laughing Gas (1914 film), and
starred in at least one, Shot in the Excitement (1914). Hired away by
Sennett’s former second-in-command, Henry Lehrman, when he set up
the L-KO Kompany, Howell was cast to support Billie Ritchie and became
popular in her own one-reelers. By 1917, she was such an audience
favorite that Julius and Abe Stern formed Century Comedies to showcase
her talents, making her, along with Mabel Normand and Marie Dressler,
the third comedienne to have her own exclusive production unit. After
Howell and Century parted ways in 1919, the company continued turning
out comedy shorts and was renamed Stern Brothers Comedies in 1926. in
1919, Howell moved to the independent Emerald Company, which became
part of the Reelcraft Corporation and released her still extant film,
Distilled Love (1920). Howell’s last starring series was a group of
1924â€"25 domestic comedies for Universal Pictures featuring a married
couple and their goofy butler. When this series ended, she appeared in
one last short, Madame Dynamite (1926), for Fox Film Corporation.Among
more than 100 screen credits, Howell made such motion pictures as
Caught in a Cabaret (1914), Mabel and Fatty's Married Life (1915),
Neptune's Naughty Daughter (1917), Green Trees (1924), and Madame
Dynamite (1926). Her Bareback Career (1917) was the first of 12
two-reel comedies for a new corporation which was formed to
manufacture and distribute Alice Howell comedies.
comedy actress from New York City. She was the mother of actress
Yvonne Howell.Early reviews of her movies describe her as "the scream
of the screen". One reviewer likened her to a "sort of Charlie
Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and Max Linder." All this was
compressed into "one more or less diminutive package of femininity".
Sometimes called "the girl Charlie Chaplin", she worked for Mack
Sennett and later L-KO Kompany. Her early comedies were often produced
by Universal Pictures.At Mack Sennett’s Keystone Film Company,
Howell quickly worked her way up from crowd scenes to featured parts
in shorts such as Charlie Chaplin’s Laughing Gas (1914 film), and
starred in at least one, Shot in the Excitement (1914). Hired away by
Sennett’s former second-in-command, Henry Lehrman, when he set up
the L-KO Kompany, Howell was cast to support Billie Ritchie and became
popular in her own one-reelers. By 1917, she was such an audience
favorite that Julius and Abe Stern formed Century Comedies to showcase
her talents, making her, along with Mabel Normand and Marie Dressler,
the third comedienne to have her own exclusive production unit. After
Howell and Century parted ways in 1919, the company continued turning
out comedy shorts and was renamed Stern Brothers Comedies in 1926. in
1919, Howell moved to the independent Emerald Company, which became
part of the Reelcraft Corporation and released her still extant film,
Distilled Love (1920). Howell’s last starring series was a group of
1924â€"25 domestic comedies for Universal Pictures featuring a married
couple and their goofy butler. When this series ended, she appeared in
one last short, Madame Dynamite (1926), for Fox Film Corporation.Among
more than 100 screen credits, Howell made such motion pictures as
Caught in a Cabaret (1914), Mabel and Fatty's Married Life (1915),
Neptune's Naughty Daughter (1917), Green Trees (1924), and Madame
Dynamite (1926). Her Bareback Career (1917) was the first of 12
two-reel comedies for a new corporation which was formed to
manufacture and distribute Alice Howell comedies.
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