Lina Basquette

Lina Basquette
Photographed by John de Mirjian
Born
Lena Copeland Baskette

(1907-04-19)April 19, 1907
DiedSeptember 30, 1994(1994-09-30) (aged 87)
Other namesLena Baskette
Lena Basquette
OccupationActress
Years active1916–1943, 1991
Spouses
(m. 1925; died 1927)
(m. 1929; div. 1930)
Ray Hallam
(m. 1931; died 1931)
Theodore Hayes
(m. 1931; div. 1932)
(m. 1934; div. 1935)
(m. 1937; div. 1944)
Warner Gilmore
(m. 1947; div. 1950)
Frank Mancuso
(m. 1959; sep. 1959)
Children2
RelativesMarge Champion (half-sister)

Lina Basquette (born Lena Copeland Baskette; April 19, 1907 – September 30, 1994) was an American actress. She is noted for her 75-year career in entertainment, which began during the silent film era. Talented as a dancer, she was paid as a girl for performing and gained her first film contract at age nine. In her acting career, Basquette may have been best known for her role as Judith in The Godless Girl (1929). The film was based on the life of Queen Silver, known as a 20th-century child prodigy, and feminist and socialist activist.[1]

Basquette also was noted for her several marriages, including her first, to the much older noted producer, Sam Warner, a co-founder of Warner Bros. film studio.[2] When her film career declined, she returned for a period to dancing and stage performances. After she retired from the entertainment world, in 1947 Basquette moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where she became a noted breeder of Great Danes; her dogs won numerous professional show prizes. She wrote several books on dog breeding as well. Later living in West Virginia, she also served as a judge for the American Kennel Club, and wrote a column.

  1. ^ Wendy McElroy, Queen Silver: The Godless Girl, Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1999
  2. ^ "Lina Basquette, Silent-Film Star And Dog Breeder, Is Dead at 87". The New York Times. October 6, 1994. Retrieved September 8, 2009.