Ethyle Cooke

Ethyle Cooke (August 4, 1880 - April 20, 1949) was an American silent film actress of the 1910s. In 1915, she married another prominent silent film actor of the time, Harry Benham. Cooke starred in many popular films, such as A Small Town Girl, Stronger than Death, and The Fugitive.
Background
Ethyle Cooke was born August 4, 1880, in Lynn, Massachusetts. She grew up in her hometown, and was educated at the Girls' Latin School in nearby Boston. She began her stage career early when, at the age of 12, she performed at the Boston Museum (even though she had been tap dancing since the age of 6).
Career at Thanhouser
Her film career began in 1911, when she joined the Thanhouser film company in New Rochelle, New York, and she remained there until 1917. She married Harry Benham, another actor working at the Thanhouser. They lived a long, happily married life and had two children, Dorothy and Leland Benham, who were also prominent Thanhouser personalities, as they appeared in several films.
By mid-1914, she had made over 200 screen appearances, and her nickname on the set came to be "Cookie". During this time at Thanhouser, she spent one year starring in lead roles with Florence LaBadie. The Moving Picture World, produced in 1916, told of Cooke's close association with LaBadie: "When you see Florence LaBadie's name in the cast of a photoplay, close by you will find Ethyle Cooke's. At the Thanhouser studios they wouldn't think of casting a Florence LaBadie feature without putting Ethyle Cook in it." In the movie The Fugitive, Cooke's character commits a murder, while letting LaBadie's take the blame. Another film where they worked closely together was The Fear of Poverty, in which LaBadie's character runs off with Cooke's fiance. Finally, in Saint, Devil, and Woman, Cooke's character suffers at the mercy of a man who also has power over LaBadie's character.
Cooke was also very active away from the set. On September 7, 1912, she attended the Thanhouser family picnic and also played on the Thanhouser women's softball team in the summer of 1915.
Death
Ethyle Cooke died April 20, 1949, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, aged 68.
Filmography
Nicholas Nickleby (1912) .... Actress playing Juliet
Dottie's New Doll (1912)
The Merchant of Venice (1912) .... Nerissa
The Wrecked Taxi (1912)
Lucile (1912)
The Star of Bethlehem (1912)
A Fall Into Luck (1913)
A Clothes-Line Quarrel (1913)
Their Great Big Beautiful Doll (1913)
What Might Have Been (1913)
An Orphan's Romance (1913)
The Head Waiter (1913)
An Amateur Animal Trainer (1913)
Twins and a Stepmother (1914)
A Leak in the Foreign Office (1914)
A Decree of Justice (1914)
The Infant Heart Snatcher (1914)
The Smouldering Spark (1914)
A Woman's Loyalty (1914)
Algy's Alibi (1914) .... Maude, Algy's Wife
The Scrub Lady (1914)
Deborah (1914) .... Anna
A Gentleman for a Day (1914)
The Butterfly Bug (1914)
Stronger Than Death (1914)
A Dog's Love (1914) .... Helen's mother
The Turning of the Road (1914) .... Sidney's Wife
Keeping a Husband (1914)
A Messenger of Gladness (1914)
Mrs. Van Ruyter's Stratagem (1914)
In Wild Man's Land (1914)
In the Conservatory (1914)
A Hatful of Trouble (1914) .... Effie Linton
His Sister's Kiddies (1915)
Daughter of Kings (1915)
It's an Ill Wind (1915)
The Six-Cent Loaf (1915)
His Guardian Auto (1915)
Ebenezer Explains (1915)
The Two Cent Mystery (1915)
Old Jane of the Gaiety (1915)
His Two Patients (1915) .... A Wealthy Patient
The Game (1915)
Gussie, the Graceful Lifeguard (1915)
The Crogmere Ruby (1915)
Snapshots (1915)
From the River's Depths (1915)
The Mother of Her Dreams (1915)
The Commuted Sentence (1915)
Mr. Meeson's Will (1915)
Inspiration (1915) .... Undetermined Role
All Aboard (1915/II)
His Vocation (1915) .... Nurse
The Necklace of Pearls (1915)
Their Last Performance (1915)
The Spirit of the Game (1916)
What Doris Did (1916)
A Man's Sins (1916)
John Brewster's Wife (1916)
The Fugitive (1916) .... Anna Prentice
The Fear of Poverty (1916) .... Betty Alsted
Saint, Devil and Woman (1916) .... Grace Carter
The Pillory (1916) .... Meg Doherty
Her New York (1917) .... Laura
Her Life and His (1917) .... Mrs. Nan Travers
The Small Town Girl (1917) .... Mame
The Candy Girl (1917)
Patsy (1917) .... Alice Hewitt
Convict 993 (1918) .... Stella Preston
References
Cooke, Ethyle at www.thanhouser.org
External links
1880 births
1949 deaths
19th-century American actresses
American stage actresses
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
Actors from Lynn, Massachusetts
20th-century American actresses
Boston Latin Academy alumni