# Agnes Ayres

Agnes Ayres (born Agnes Henkel; April 4, 1892 – December 25, 1940) was an American actress who rose to fame during the period of silent films. She was known for her role as Lady Diana Mayo in The Sheik opposite Rudolph Valentino.

## Career

Ayres began her career in 1914 when she was noticed by an Essanay Studios staff director and cast as an extra in a crowd scene. After moving to Manhattan with her mother to pursue a career in acting, Ayres was spotted by actress Alice Joyce. Joyce noticed the physical resemblance the two shared which eventually led to Ayres being cast in Richard the Brazen (1917), as Joyce's character's sister. Ayres' career began to gain momentum when Paramount Pictures founder Jesse Lasky began to take an interest in her. Lasky gave her a starring role in the drama Held by the Enemy (1920), and he lobbied for parts for her in several productions by Cecil B. DeMille. During this period Ayres began a romance with Lasky.
In 1921, Ayres shot to stardom when she was cast as Lady Diana Mayo, an English heiress, with "Latin lover" Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik. Ayres later reprised her role as Lady Diana in the 1926 sequel The Son of the Sheik. Following the release of The Sheik, she had major roles in many other films, including The Affairs of Anatol (1921) starring Wallace Reid, Forbidden Fruit (1921), and Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923).
By 1923, Ayres' career began to wane following the end of her relationship with Jesse Lasky. She married Mexican diplomat S. Manuel Reachi in 1924. The couple had a daughter, then divorced in 1927.
Ayres lost her fortune and real estate holdings in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. That same year, she also appeared in her last major role in The Donovan Affair, starring Jack Holt. To earn money, she left acting and played the vaudeville circuit. She returned to acting in 1936, confident that she could make a comeback — but, unable to secure starring roles, and somewhat overweight, Ayres appeared in mostly uncredited parts and finally retired from acting in 1937.

## Later years and death

After her retirement, Ayres became despondent and was eventually committed to a sanatorium. In 1939, she also lost custody of her daughter, Maria Ayres, to Reachi.
She died from a cerebral hemorrhage on December 25, 1940, at her home in Hollywood, California at the age of 48; she had been ill for several weeks. She is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. In 1960, Ayres was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 6504 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to the film industry.
Her daughter Maria Reachi had a small part in the movie East Side, West Side (1949).

## Selected filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1914 | The Masked Wrestler | | Uncredited |
| 1915 | His New Job | Extra, Secretary | Alternative title: Charlie's New Job |
| 1917 | Motherhood | The Mother | Credited as Agnes Eyre Lost film |
| 1917 | The Debt | Countess Ann | Credited as Agnes Eyre Lost film |
| 1917 | Mrs. Balfame | Alys Crumley | Credited as Agnes Eyre |
| 1917 | Hedda Gabler | | Credited as Agnes Eyre |
| 1917 | The Mirror | undetermined | Credited as Agnes Eyre Lost film |
| 1917 | The Dazzling Miss Davison | Lillian, Miss Davison's sister | Credited as Agnes Eyre Lost film |
| 1917 | The Defeat of the City | Alicia Van Der Pool | Credited as Agnes Eyre |
| 1917 | The Bottom of the Well | Alice Buckingham | Lost film |
| 1918 | The Purple Dress | Maida | *short |
| 1918 | The Enchanted Profile | Ida Bates | |
| 1918 | Sisters of the Golden Circle | Mrs. James Williams | |
| 1918 | One Thousand Dollars | Margarett Hayden | |
| 1919 | The Girl Problem | Helen Reeves | |
| 1919 | A Stitch in Time | Lela Trevor | |
| 1919 | In Honor's Web | Carson | Lost film |
| 1919 | Sacred Silence | | Lost film |
| 1919 | The Gamblers | Isabel Merson | |
| 1920 | A Modern Salome | Helen Torrence | Lost film |
| 1920 | The Inner Voice | Barbara | Survives; Library of Congress, Cineteca Nazionale |
| 1920 | Go and Get It | Helen Allen | Survives; Cineteca Nazionale |
| 1920 | Held by the Enemy | Rachel Hayne | Lost film |
| 1921 | The Love Special | Laura Gage | Survives |
| 1921 | Forbidden Fruit | Mary Maddock | Survives |
| 1921 | Too Much Speed | Virginia MacMurran | Unknown/presumably Lost |
| 1921 | Cappy Ricks | Florrie Ricks | Incomplete film |
| 1921 | The Affairs of Anatol | Annie Elliott | Survives |
| 1921 | The Sheik | Lady Diana Mayo | Survives |
| 1922 | The Lane That Had No Turning | Madelinette | Lost film |
| 1922 | Bought and Paid For | Virginia Blaine | Lost film |
| 1922 | The Ordeal | Sybil Bruce | Lost film |
| 1922 | A Daughter of Luxury | Mary Fenton | Lost film |
| 1922 | Clarence | Violet Pinney | Lost film |
| 1923 | The Heart Raider | Muriel Gray (a speed girl) | |
| 1923 | Racing Hearts | Virginia Kent | Lost film |
| 1923 | The Ten Commandments | The Outcast | Survives |
| 1923 | The Marriage Maker | Alexandra Vancy | Lost film |
| 1923 | Don't Call It Love | Alice Meldrum | Lost film |
| 1923 | Hollywood | Herself (cameo) | Lost film |
| 1924 | When a Girl Loves | Sasha Boroff | Survives |
| 1924 | Bluff | Betty Hallowell | Survives |
| 1924 | The Guilty One | Irene Short | Lost |
| 1924 | Detained | | Short film Survives |
| 1924 | The Story Without a Name | Mary Walsworth | Lost film |
| 1925 | Tomorrow's Love | Judith Stanley | Lost film |
| 1925 | Her Market Value | Nancy Dumont | Survives |
| 1925 | The Awful Truth | Lucy Satterlee | Survives |
| 1925 | Morals for Men | Bessie Hayes | Survives |
| 1926 | The Son of the Sheik | Lady Diana | Survives |
| 1927 | Eve's Love Letters | The Wife | Survives; *short |
| 1928 | Into the Night | Billie Mardon | Lost film |
| 1929 | The Donovan Affair | Lydia Rankin | ? Survives |
| 1929 | Bye, Bye, Buddy | Glad O'Brien | Lost film |
| 1936 | Small Town Girl | Catherine | Uncredited |
| 1937 | Maid of Salem | Bit Part | Uncredited |
| 1937 | Midnight Taxi | Society woman | Uncredited |
| 1937 | Souls at Sea | Bit Role | Uncredited |
| 1937 | Morning Judge | Mrs. Kennedy | |