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Eleanor Blevins was an early movie actress from 1913 to 1916, starring in at least 24 short films some of which were "The Schoolmarm of Green River" (1913), "A Friend in Need" (1914), "The Love Transcendent" (1915) and "The Valley of Humiliation" (1915). None are known to have survived.
Blevins was born on April 27, 1894 in Lincoln, Nebraska and died on September 30, 1973 in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Acting
Before 1900 her parents separated and by 1910, Eleanor was living with her mother in Los Angeles. In 1913, Eleanor was acting in movies, usually in the role of a daughter or sweetheart. She was known as "Peg of the Movies."
Her earliest starring role may have been "The New Schoolmarm of Green River" that was directed by Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson for Essanay. It was released in October 1913 when she was 21 years old. She was one of the troupe in a 1914 Tom Mix comedy Western titled "The Motion Picture Cowboy" and in a 1915 comedy directed by Hal Roach for Essanay, titled "Tale of a Tire".
Racing
Sometime during 1916 she started to race cars. Blevins drove one car throughout her racing career and it was called the Stutz Weightman Special, produced by William "Wild Bill" Weightman. The vehicle was a right-hand drive model designed for high speeds. It featured a special aerodynamic modification with a boat tail design.
In December, her vehicle broke down with her mechanic calling a friend of his to assist. That was Herbert Betts who helped to get her car running but made a friendly wager of $1000, a large sum at the time, that she wouldn't finish the race. She did finish and he paid the bet giving her a check and marriage proposal, both she accepted. They were married in January 1917 in Philadelphia, but he passed away only a few months later at the age of 36.
In 1924, Eleanor married Ralph Albaugh in Virginia City, Montana. They are listed as having two adopted children, Thomas and Helen.
In 1926, Eleanor and Ralph built a cabin called "Ziz-Ziz-Zit" southwest of Yellowstone National Park. In 2020, it was placed on The National Register of Historic Places in Idaho "an early vacation cabin / summer residence in the resort area of Island Park.
Bibliography
- Macy, Sue. "Motor Girls: How Women Took the wheel and drove boldly into the twentieth Century." National Geographic Washington, D.C., 2017.
- Kimes, Beverly Rae & Clark Jr., Henry Austin. "Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942." October, 1988.
References
- Macy, Sue. "Motor Girls: How Women Took the wheel and drove boldly into the twentieth Century." National Geographic Washington, D.C., 2017
- "Wins $1,000 bet and man as well". The Roanoke Times. 23 January 1917. p. 2. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- "Girl Autoist wins big bet (part1)". Tampa Bay Times. 26 January 1917. p. 1. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- "Girl Autoist wins big bet and husband (part2)". Tampa Bay Times. 26 January 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MV2G-5QK : accessed 3 January 2022), Lottie W Blevins, Los Angeles Assembly District 70, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 213, sheet 13A, family 325, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 80; FHL microfilm 1,374,093.
- https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/NRHP_Idaho.pdf
- "MotorCities - A Look Back at Eleanor Blevins, An Early Auto Racer | 2019 | Story of the Week". www.motorcities.org.
- "Noted Film Star Spends Several Days Visiting in Salt Lake". The Salt Lake Tribune. 18 June 1922. p. 31. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- "Eleanor Blevins Deserts the Silent Drama for the Footlights and Tells Why". Tucson Citizen. 1 June 1915. p. 8. Retrieved 4 December 2024.