Almeda Fowler

Almeda Fowler was a prolific actress who starred in multiple prominent Pre-Code Hollywood Sound film, such as Party Girl (1930 film), Damaged Lives, and Carolina (1934 film)', and acted in over forty other films in the era. She started her career on Al Reeves’ The Big Beauty Show and quickly became one of the most prominent stars in the program. She married Reeves, who was a famous vaudeville entertainer. The Florence Times describes her as a “great beauty” and a “longing for the stage since she was a mere child of 6 years of age.”
== Early Life ==
Almeda Fowler was born on February 27, 1886 in Florence, Alabama. Almeda was born to Samuel Y. Fowler, a Confederate veteran born on September 27, 1845, and his wife. Samuel Y. Fowler died in 1932 in an automobile accident near Quantico, Virginia when he was 87 years of age. Fowler attended. Robert M. Patton school and was one of the 10 out of 14 people in her class to graduate.
== Career ==
Almeda Fowler began her acting career in 1904 by becoming a part of Al Reeves’ Big Beauty Show. This was a very popular touring burlesque show. It consisted of 51 girls performing wearing “pretty costumes.” Because of her beauty and talent, Fowler advanced in the troupe to become the leading act. Fowler’s act was pointe dancing which accentuated her “sprightliness.”
After her divorce, Almeda Fowler moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career. Asides from a plethora of uncredited roles as an extra she had numerous starring roles that went uncredited. Notable roles include Party Girl, Damaged Lives, and Carolina.
In 1930, Fowler starred in crime film Party Girl. In this film, she played the character, Maude Lindsay. This film was released shortly before the Hays Code was put in place. The film is about a young playboy who is ensnared into a trap by the girls working for a shady escort agency.
In 1933, Fowler starred in Damaged Lives as Mrs. Bradley. This is a film about an extramarital affair and the consequences that result from it. The movie features risqué material such as one of the first filmed nude scenes in Hollywood. This is a cautionary film similar to Reefer Madness and Marihuana. At the end of the film, one of the characters contracts a “danger venereal disease” due to his actions and his girlfriend commits suicide due to this.
In 1934, Fowler played Geraldine Connely in the romantic comedy, Carolina. The movie takes place during the Civil War reconstruction and focuses on the romance between Will Connely and a Yankee farm girl Joanna Tate.
== Personal Life ==
In 1907, Almeda Fowler eloped with Al Reeves at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. She lived in a mansion with a house servant in Brooklyn, NY while she was married. They remained married for seven years until she divorced Reeves due to his infidelity in November of 1914. After this she moved from New York In 1935, Fowler sued Reeves for a $20,000 insurance policy of which she was the beneficiary.
== Death ==
Almeda Fowler in Los Angeles died on September 8th, 1964 and was buried Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills). 
==Theater==
*The Big Beauty Show
== Filmography ==
* Party Girl (1930 film)
* The Pagan Lady
* Alum and Eve (1932)
* The Big Timer (1932)
* A Man of Sentiment (1933)
* Damaged Lives (1933)
* Taxi Barons (1933)
* Fifteen Wives (1934)
* All Men Are Enemies (1934)
* Carolina (1934 film)
* Three Kids and a Queen (1935)
* Let 'Em Have It
* Clive of India (film)
* Crack-Up (1936 film)
* Career Woman (1936)
* The Final Hour (film)
* Little Miss Nobody (1936 film)
* Exclusive (1937)
* Hotel Haywire (1937)
* That I May Live (1937)
* The Good Old Soak
* You Can't Take It with You (film)
* A Trip to Paris (1938)
* Young People (1940 film)
* The Return of Frank James (1940)
* The Lady Eve (1941)
* Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (1943)
* Expirement Perilous (1944)
* One Mysterious Night (1944)
* Storm Over Lisbon (1944)
* My Buddy (1944)
* They Live in Fear (1944)
* Three Little Sisters
* Once Upon a Time (1944 film)
* They Were Expendable (1945)
* Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion (1945)
* Eve Knew Her Apples (1945)
* Notorious (1946 film)
* The Kid from Brooklyn (1946)
* To Each His Own (film)
* The Hucksters (1947)
* Mickey (1948 film 
* Dream Girl (1948 film)
* B.F.'s Daughter (1948)
* Any Number Can Play 
* A Star Is Born (1954 film)
* It Should Happen to You
Category:Actresses
Category:1886 births
Category:People from Florence, Alabam